Medication Management

4 Steps to Medication Management: A Modern Challenge for Senior Care

Medications are important components in effective senior care, and they can extend the lives of individuals significantly when properly used. However, when not properly managed, medications can interact with one another, can exacerbate other health conditions, and can become a major challenge for senior care professionals, including doctors, nurses, and even families who take care of their loved ones.

Effectively managing medication can be a bit difficult, especially when you or a loved one are on several different medications or have been prescribed several different doses of the same medication. Though it may seem overwhelming at first, approaching the challenge in an organized fashion is the best way to ensure that your medications, or those of your loved one, are properly managed.

1.       Create a master list of all medications currently in use. Include the medication name, dosage, date prescribed, doctor who prescribed it, and phone number of the doctor. Additionally, include contact information for the pharmacy at which these medications have been filled. This will allow healthcare professionals to know exactly what has been taken and prevent them from prescribing something that may cause an adverse reaction.

2.       To the master list, add as many past medications as possible. Though you may not have all of the information available for these prescriptions, it may help to simply have them noted.

3.       Take notes pertaining to reactions to medications and whether or not they were effective. Doing so may point doctors in the right direction when considering writing a new prescription. These notes can be added to the master list.

4.       Use a weekly pill organizer to sort medications on a set day every week. Doing so will ensure that no pills are skipped or taken twice.

Medication management can be extremely difficult, especially if there are several different prescriptions involved, but by staying organized this challenge can be overcome. Eventually, you will fall into a routine with your medication or the medication of your loved one and will be able to easily maintain the orderly approach that you have adopted. By doing so, you can allow medications to do what they were designed to do: improve life. 

For more information on implementing medication management techniques, contact the professionals at Always Best Care of Chapel Hill-Durham at 919-357-1440 or visit our website at www.alwaysbestcarechapelhill-durham.com.