Structured help for the moments that hit hardest.
When something big happens — a hospital discharge, a fall, a diagnosis — the question isn't “what do I do?” It's “what do I do first?” Kintaria's playbooks answer that question with a personalized checklist, real due dates, and a shared place for the family to act together.
How playbooks work in Kintaria
Every playbook starts with a short intake — five to eight questions about your loved one's specific situation. The playbook personalizes from your answers: tasks you don't need disappear, dates anchor to events you specified, and other family members get assigned to the tasks they've already said they can help with.
Tasks land in the workspace as a real to-do list with due dates and owners. Marking one done updates the activity feed and the next-step suggestion engine; no separate “playbook app” to keep up with.
Available playbooks
Your parent was just discharged from a hospital.
The 48 hours after discharge are when re-admission risk is highest and the family is most overwhelmed. The playbook walks you through the paperwork, the medication reconciliation, the follow-up appointments, the danger signs to watch for, and what to say when a sibling asks how they can help.
Diagnosis · First 6 months
Your parent was just diagnosed with dementia.
The first six months matter most — the legal documents, the financial setup, the conversations with siblings, the orientation to what's ahead. The playbook covers the Alzheimer's Association call, the elder-law attorney, the support group, and the conversations to have while your parent can still participate in them.
Incident · Same day
Your parent fell.
Whether they're in the ER, just home from urgent care, or you got the call after the fact — the playbook covers the medical workup, the home-safety audit (rugs, grab bars, raised seat), the medication review for fall-risk drugs, and the PT referral that often gets skipped.
Planning · First few weeks
You're ready to bring in a home health aide.
The playbook covers the difference between home health (medical, often Medicare-covered) and home care (non-medical, usually private-pay), how to find someone, how to interview, what to expect in the first week, and the small-but-real decisions about keys, food, schedule, and how to fire someone respectfully if it doesn't work out.
Transition · Hospice
You think your parent may be approaching the end of life.
Hospice isn't giving up — it's choosing comfort over more treatment when more treatment won't help. Fully covered by Medicare. The playbook covers when to ask about hospice, how to have the conversation, what changes when hospice starts, and the small kindnesses that matter most in the last weeks.
Spouse · 90-day window
Your spouse just had a stroke.
The first 90 days after a stroke are when most recovery happens — and when the marriage and the household have to be reorganized around someone who isn't fully the person they were a month ago. The playbook walks through the rehab path (acute inpatient rehab vs. SNF vs. home health), the FMLA and short-term-disability paperwork, the power-of-attorney activation, the home modifications insurance will and won't cover, the medication reconciliation across the new neurology / cardiology / PT team, and the conversations with the kids about what changed and what didn't.
Adult child · Age 18 to 22
Your adult child is aging out of school-based services.
The "services cliff" at 21 or 22 is one of the hardest transitions in disability life — IDEA-mandated supports end and adult services become an application-driven patchwork. The playbook covers the state DDA / DDS intake, the HCBS waiver application (often a multi-year waitlist that has to start now), supported employment vs. day programs vs. continued education, the transition from pediatric to adult specialists, the special-needs trust setup, the ABLE account, and the guardianship-vs-supported-decision-making decision that should happen before the 18th birthday.
Sibling · Same day
You're the sibling and the ER just called.
The hospital expected a parent or spouse — and called you instead, because there isn't one. The playbook covers the consent-basis paperwork to have ready before the next call, how to establish authority at the front desk without a 20-minute argument, the HIPAA forms that should already be on file, the medication and allergy list you need to surface in seconds, and the next-of-kin documentation the hospital probably doesn't know you already have.
Parent · Conversation
It's time for the car keys conversation.
The driving conversation rarely lands in one sitting — it's the slow returning to the topic over weeks. The playbook walks through the DMV self-screening process, when to ask the PCP for a formal driving evaluation, the occupational-therapy driving assessment that catches what self-screening misses, what to do about a parent who keeps driving anyway (insurance call, key relocation, anonymous DMV report — and the ethical weight of each), and the transportation alternatives that have to land before the keys do.
Parent · Transition · 60-day window
Your parent is moving to assisted living or memory care.
The move itself takes a weekend; the decision and preparation take 60 days. The playbook covers the assisted-living vs. memory-care distinction, the facility tour checklist that catches what the marketing tour hides, the financial paperwork (long-term care insurance? VA Aid & Attendance? Medicaid spend-down?), the medication transfer to the facility's pharmacy, the move-in checklist (what to bring, what gets lost, what familiar items help), and the first-30-days rhythm of visits before the new pattern settles.
Spouse · First 30 days
Your spouse was just diagnosed with cancer.
The first 30 days after a cancer diagnosis are dominated by appointment cascade and treatment-plan decisions — a partnership that suddenly has to function as a clinical-decision-making unit. The playbook covers the second-opinion question, the staging workup, the oncology team coordination (medical / surgical / radiation), the genetic-counseling referral, the insurance + employer + FMLA paperwork, the conversations with the kids, and the practical rhythm of treatment days that resets your week.
Adult child · Before the 18th birthday
You need to set up the special-needs trust and guardianship.
The 18th birthday is a legal cliff for a young adult with a developmental disability — they become their own decision-maker by default, federal and state benefits get re-evaluated, and any inherited assets in their name disqualify them from SSI and Medicaid unless structured correctly. The playbook walks through the third-party vs. first-party special-needs trust choice, the ABLE account setup, the guardianship vs. conservatorship vs. supported-decision-making decision, the elder-law attorney specializing in disability planning, the school-age IEP documents the attorney will want, and the family conversations about who serves as trustee and successor.
Sibling · Inheriting the care
Your parent was caring for your sibling — and now they can't.
The succession a parent has been worried about for decades has arrived: the primary caregiver for a sibling with disabilities is no longer able, and the sibling steps in. The playbook covers the workspace handoff (the export the original caregiver made — or didn't), the medical-history catch-up across decades of records, the legal transfer (guardianship modification, trust trustee swap, ABLE account authorization), the state DDA / DDS notification, the relationships with the day-program coordinator and the team of specialists, and the slow rebuilding of trust with a sibling whose primary attachment was someone else.
Foundation · 30 minutes
Lock down your workspace security.
A family caregiver workspace holds every sensitive thing about your loved one: medical history, medications, legal documents, photos, addresses. The realistic threat isn't a sophisticated attacker — it's a misplaced phone, a phishing email at 11 PM, a forwarded link that lands somewhere it shouldn't. The playbook covers two-step sign-in, recovery codes stored offline, an audit of who's in the workspace and at what role, designating an emergency-access person, and briefing the family on the recovery process. About 30 minutes of work that prevents the most likely actual problems.
Foundation · One-time setupGet the legal paperwork in order.
Power of attorney, healthcare proxy, advance directive, HIPAA releases, will — the bundle every family wishes they'd set up before a crisis hit. The playbook inventories what's already signed, identifies the gaps, walks through finding an elder-law attorney, and gets the missing documents drafted + signed + filed with every provider + the family told who holds what. Two attorney visits, three weeks of follow-up.
Wellness · OngoingWhen you're burning out.
Burnout doesn't announce itself — it seeps in through 11 PM phone calls, a kitchen counter that hasn't been wiped in three weeks, and a calendar with no margin. By the time most caregivers recognize it, the depression has been brewing for months. The playbook walks through the FCA self-assessment, telling your own primary care doctor, finding peer support, establishing a regular respite cadence, considering therapy, and auditing what you can stop doing. Plus a crisis path with 988 + ER guidance for the moments where this isn't self-care, it's a medical one.
Why playbooks (and why not chatbots)
A chatbot can answer one question. A playbook is a structure for the dozens of decisions that follow that first question — and a shared place where the family agrees who's doing which one. Static enough that a tired sibling can pick it up at 11 PM and know what to do. Dynamic enough that finishing one task surfaces the next.
See a playbook in action.
The demo workspace has the “after a fall” playbook half-completed so you can see how tasks roll forward as the family works through them.