Eldercare: The Importance of Medication Management

There are many of us of who have parents that have reached an age where they don't yet need or what the services of a nursing home. They don't qualify for home health care visits, and can't afford the services of a personal care assistant to oversee they are taking their medications. A medication error from overdosing, missing doses, addiction, to forgetting to refill prescriptions, is a serious health concern among our senior citizens. Every case is different but their our some helpful hints that will help you organize the medications your parent's take to make it much easier for them to keep to a schedule and know whether or not they have taken their medications. At the same time, it will help you know whether or not the medications are being taken as prescribed, at the correct dosages, and are being refilled regularly, with all new and discontinued drugs reported to their primary physician.

As people age they have a tendency to have more than one chronic condition that requires not only more than one prescription drug but also more than one doctor. It is of the utmost importance that all the doctors and/or specialists are kept informed of everything that your parents are taking (prescription, herbal, vitamins/supplements, and over the counter medications) to avoid any potentially harmful and sometimes fatal interactions. The following are some fairly simple things you can do to help your parent's feel more independent and yet make sure they are using their medications safely.

1) Throw out any expired or discontinued prescription medications. The best way to accomplish this is by flushing the bottles contents down the toilet and throwing away the bottle. Use common sense with this by flushing only small amounts at a time and not flushing fiber/bulk tablets or powder…those can be emptied into trash and directly thrown away.