Five Tips for Helping Your Senior with Her Medication

Home Health Care in Westfield

Home Health Care in Westfield

Medication can be a tricky task for your senior. Home health care professionals make this task easier and help your elderly family member adhere to her medication protocols. There are other ways to make this task easier, so choose what works best in your elderly family member’s situation.

Talk to Your Senior about How She Feels

You and your senior should discuss how her medication helps her, how she feels when taking it, and what side effects she experiences. If you don’t know how your elderly family member takes her medications, now is the time to learn. Part of the problem might be that she’s not keeping up with her medication, which means you need a better plan.

Set up a Reminder System That Works for Your Senior

For some people, reminders work fantastically with medication adherence. But there might be more to it for your aging family member. Home health care professionals can help your senior take medications properly and on time. The more closely she adheres to her medication plan, the better it will help your senior.

Keep Records of What Your Senior Is Taking

Keep updated records of your aging family member’s medications and associated details. What are her side effects? Are there other concerns she has about her medications? Any new symptoms and detailed information about her medications’ impact are important to share with her doctor. Likewise, keep a full medication list, along with the strengths of each medication. As her prescriptions change, keep the list updated.

Schedule Medication Reviews Regularly

Undeniably, medication reviews are done with your senior’s doctor to determine how her prescriptions are interacting with each other and how they’re affecting her. These reviews are a good idea to schedule periodically so as to stay on top of what’s happening if changes need to be made. Home health care professionals can help you keep the records that make these reviews even easier.

Stick with What Works for Your Senior

Certain systems for medication management will work better for your elderly family member than others. If the scenario you have in place is helping her, stick with it as long as that is the case. When you notice that medication adherence is changing or there are other signs that your senior’s medication routine isn’t working for her, it’s time to try something a little different to get things back on track.

It’s important not to take shortcuts about your senior’s medications. They’re an important part of helping her manage her health as well as she can.

If you or an aging loved one are considering Home Health Care in Westfield, IN, please call the caring staff at Home Services Unlimited. Serving the Greater Indianapolis Area. Call for Immediate Info & Assistance: (317) 471-0760.

Etelka Froymovich, RN, MHA
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