We have all missed a dose of medication at one time or the other because remembering to take medication can be challenging, so if you take multiple medications several times a day, it can be overwhelming. Missed doses or improper use of the regimen can be very harmful, it’s not a good thing to skip medications.
Older adults take prescription medicine more often than younger people, this is called polypharmacy. This is because they are more likely to have more chronic medical disorders such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or hypertension in which most of these drugs are taken for years. But then, you don’t need to have a medical condition to use some medications such as supplements which provide extra nutrients needed for longer, healthier, and more vital life. So, whether you have a medical condition or not you need to take some medications to help the normal functioning of your body.
To ensure effective compliance with drugs, either by you or your loved ones, effective methods of medication management have been developed by experts. These are ways to manage and organize your medication. With a lot of different medications, remembering their names, why you need them, how often you need them, and keeping them organized can be difficult. When you take a lot of medications, errors can easily occur ranging from missing a dose to overdose. Managing your medication effectively can help reduce potentially fatal errors.
WAYS TO MANAGE YOUR MEDICATION
1. Create a dosing schedule chart
This can be done by using a spreadsheet or word processing program on your computer or you can just list all your medications, the time they need to be taken, frequency, side effects, and allergies to the drugs and space by each dose so you can check off when each is taken. For medicines that are given ‘as needed, you may also include why it is taken e.g. ‘A’ can be annotated as ‘for nausea’. Produce several copies and give them to your doctor on appointments and to your pharmacist. If there are medications that require refrigeration, also take note.
2. Use a daily pill organizer or dispenser
Pill organizers can be very helpful if you take many types of medications each day (An example of a Pill Organizer is in the image in this post). It comes in various shapes and colors, it has seven or more compartments to hold each day’s worth of medication. To ensure that medication is taken on a timely basis, keep a dosage schedule nearby that also includes the physical description of each pill such as ‘blue capsules’ or ‘large white pill’. If you have children, a pill organizer may not be an ideal way of organizing medications; pills can be accidentally ingested or even disorganized. Another drawback may be if you take a lot of medications that might not fit into each compartment. You can overcome this by getting a Pill Organizer with larger compartments. Asides from helping you to organize your medications, it also helps you to notice if you need a refill before you run out of the one you have.
Likewise, you can get an automatic dispenser that can be programmed to dispense your medication to you at a set time every day.
3. Set reminders or medication app
This is an added step that can really ensure you stay on track. For older adults without a smartphone, an alarm clock, or other reminder systems, can be used. For caregivers, devices like this take the ‘nag’ factor out of mundane tasks. This allows you to focus on more important things like spending quality time with your loved ones. There is a wide variety of apps that can help you manage your medications, they include those that can help you look up information about the drug, set up your medication schedule, and get reminders to use your pills.
4. Store your medications properly and take them as recommended
Many medications have storage instructions, while some simply want to sit at a dry, cold temperature, and some need to be refrigerated. Note these instructions
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