Tips To Help Your Senior Parent Properly Take His Or Her Medications

The medications your senior parent takes are probably very important for his or her health; however, your parent might not be taking these prescriptions properly. This tends to be a very common problem with seniors, but there might be things you can do to help. If you are worried about your parent and his or her medications, here are some tips that may help you know how to assist your parent with taking the pills each day.

Make a list of all medications

The first thing you should do is make a list of all the medications your parent takes. The best way to make sure the list is complete and accurate is to make the list with the help of your parent's doctor. The doctor should be the one who prescribes all the medications your parent takes, and you can ask the doctor to help you with the list if you accompany your parent to an appointment.

Make sure the list contains the name of the medication (including the generic name), the dosage information (the quantity), and the times when he or she should be taking the medication. With this list, you will at least know what your parent is supposed to be taking and when he or she should be taking it.

Create a pill box

If you cannot be there with your parent all day to administer pills, you can try using a pill box. To do this, buy a pill box and fill it with the correct pills. You can then explain to your parent how to use this box. Once you do this, you may want to check in on your parent each day for a few days to make sure he or she is using the pill box correctly.

If you notice any issues with the way your parent is taking the medications, it might be time to hire a home healthcare company to assist your mom or dad. Home healthcare workers can help with many different tasks, but managing medications is a common need for seniors.

When a senior does not take the right medications, problems can happen. For example, if your parent is not taking enough of a certain medication, your parent's health problems may be left untreated, and this can present health issues. If your parent takes too much medication, it can result in an overdose.

If your parent needs some help with medications and other things, you may want to call a home health care company, such as Neighbors Home Care Services, to find out if they can help you out. 

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