Prescription drugs used properly can help older adults manage everything from blood pressure to cholesterol. For many seniors, they improve their quality of life. But a startling statistic from the Consumer Health Information Services brings to light the risk of failing to properly manage medications. In the U.S., we spend as much money treating people who have used their prescriptions improperly, as is we do on the prescriptions themselves. A 2012 study by USA Today showed a 700% increase in the number of deaths from medication mistakes at home between 1983 and 2004.
If you are a caregiver, you are probably wondering what you can do to decrease your loved one’s chances of making a medication mistake. We have a few recommendations we think might help:
- Keep a list of all of the medications your loved one needs to take. Document the name (if it is a generic also list the brand name it is equivalent to), dosage, frequency of use, prescribing physician, and pharmacy. Keep a copy with you, and place one in your loved one’s home.
- Review possible side effects with the pharmacist and online. You can often find comprehensive feedback from people who have used the drug and had an adverse reaction to it online with a simple Google search.
- Make sure your lists include over the counter medications and supplements. Herbal supplements may interact with prescription drugs and put your loved one at risk. Their physician and pharmacist both need to be aware of what they are taking.
- Find a pharmacy that you are happy with and make sure all prescriptions are filled and re-filled there. That way they can help you spot potential problems between prescriptions and over the counter medications your loved one is taking.
- Remind the older adult you care for to always turn a light on before taking a medicine and to double check the label.
- Technology has created a variety of medication dispensing products that can help keep your loved one safe. Features range from text message notifications to phone call reminders – all at budget conscious price points.
- Dispose of old medications. Keeping old pill bottles around increases the odds that a senior may inadvertently take the wrong prescription. If you get rid of anything they no longer have to take as soon as they are done with it, you can immediately decrease one of the highest risk factors for in-home medication mistakes.
With an organized and systematic plan for medication management, you can prevent the older adult in your life from being one of the more than 7,000 fatalities from medication errors each year.
Have you tried any of the medication dispenser technologies?
If you did, please let us know how it is going by commenting below.
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