Dealing with medications is challenging, but to seniors, it can be a nearly impossible task. To a younger person, keeping track of their prescriptions is manageable. On the other hand, older adults have a challenging time keeping up with their medication list because of the number of vitamins and drugs they have to take and their complexities.
Poor medication management can be dangerous, as it could cause drug interactions and side effects that can risk their overall well-being. As such, it’s essential to know how to properly manage medications for seniors to lessen the risks of anything terrible happening to them.
Read our tips below to find out how to manage medications for seniors:
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Gather all medications into one location.
Whether you’re a senior or not, having your vitamins, supplements, and medications scattered all over the house will make it challenging to keep track of the prescribed drugs you have to take. Since older adults tend to keep pills in the kitchen, bedside table, and bathroom medicine cabinet, managing medications may become challenging.
To make things easier, make sure to put everything in one place—place all of their medications in one container to figure out whether similar prescriptions are being prescribed for one health condition and expired medicines that should be disposed of.
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Sort the pills into dispensers.
Even with medications all in one place, looking for the right drug to take can still be confusing if they’re all just jumbled together in one container. Depending on the number of supplements and other drugs your older loved one has to take, reading every medication label could take up a lot of time and effort.
Make sure to also organize the pills by the day of the week instead of just placing them all in one container. Storing medicines into daily reminder boxes makes it easier to remember which medications to take and when to take them. If you forget to take one, you’ll notice right away because the pill will be left untouched on the reminder box.
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Watch out for possible drug interactions.
Although the doctor and pharmacist are responsible for checking any possible interactions with the drugs your older loved one is taking, it helps to ask about potential dangers when starting a new prescription.
Some medications, food, and beverages should never be taken with certain drugs, as they could lead to adverse effects. Make sure that you know which medications are safe to take together to be safe.
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Set up a medication tracking system.
Even with an updated medication list and a daily reminder box, there’s still a possibility of remembering when to take each dose. You can track when medications are taken by noting the times and days with a paper and pen, but a note won’t remind you to take medicine.
As such, you may want to use an app to keep track of taking pills. Apps for taking medicine can be a great help for caregivers and seniors—they can remind your older loved one to take their medication and list their prescription without writing anything on paper.
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Schedule regular doctor appointments.
The current prescriptions your older loved one has won’t stay the same forever—their needs will change eventually, and their doctor may have to come up with an alternate solution to cater to those needs.
As such, your older loved one must visit their doctor regularly to address any issues immediately and keep their medication list current.
Conclusion
Senior medication management is known to be challenging and overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be! As long as you follow our guide and use an app to keep track of taking pills, your older loved one will be able to stay as healthy and happy as they can be.
Are you having difficulty keeping track of your older loved one’s medications? Then, let MedManage make things easier for you! As one of the best medication tracker apps, MedManage can help you manage your medications or help take care of your family members. Download the app today!