Medication Management for Seniors

Most seniors take medications on a regular basis. It is important to ensure proper medication management (taking the right dose at the right time). Taking medications improperly can result in falls and cause further health issues.

How to Set up a Medication Box

Med boxes come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They are available at most pharmacies and health care suppliers, sometimes for free. They are typically plastic boxes with dividers to delineate the different days of the week. Some have the boxes labeled with times, others use meals (breakfast, lunch, etc). Some are for one week while others are for the whole month. Sit down with your parent and come up with a system for labeling the boxes. Use colors and large print labels.

Medication Blister Packs

More and more pharmacies are blister packing medications for their clients. Each package typically holds a weeks worth of medications arranged by both the day and time to take the medication. This is a great solution and I recommend this service to many clients. Also, some pharmacies are not charging for this service and it is much easier for clients to know if they have taken their medication or not. It is also easy for you to see if they have taken their medication.

Monitoring Medications

Now it is time to monitor how your parent is managing taking their own medications. If you live close by, check once a day. If you do not live close by, you can phone and check that they took their medications.

Forgetting to Take Medications

If your parent suddenly starts forgetting to take their medication, it is best to schedule an appointment with their doctor as they might have an underlying medical problem causing them to forget. Once this has been addressed, you can monitor the medications more closely or have a caregiver visit your parent and check that they are taking their medication.