Medication adherence can be a real problem for some aging adults, and for valid reasons. Your elderly family member may forget medications, she may feel uncomfortable or bad when she takes some of her medications, or she may not be able to physically handle making sure that she’s taking all of her medications properly. Finding out where she’s having trouble helps you to put the right plan in place.
Medication Adherence Is Vital, but Your Senior May Have Trouble
Your senior’s doctor prescribes medication for her so that health issues that are uncomfortable, dangerous, or bothering her can be corrected. When your senior doesn’t take those medications, her health can suffer quite a bit. She’s also at a higher risk of falling or of isolating herself. She may even experience depression.
Make Sure You’ve Got a List of All of Her Medications
When you’re starting to help her to develop a plan for sticking with her medication plan, it helps if you’ve got a full list of what she’s taking and why. You’ll also want to know how often she needs to take the medication and what the dosage is. You should also take a closer look at the side effects of each medication, because medication side effects can compound each other.
Talk to Your Senior’s Doctor about Her Medications
Schedule a medication review with your elderly family member’s doctor. This can be a really important part of managing her medication and ensuring that she’s taking medications the way that she should. Your senior’s doctor can also help to sort out which medications might be making side effects worse for her. It’s possible that changing some of her medications or her dosages help her to feel more comfortable complying with her medication plan.
Get Help if She’s Still Having Trouble Taking Medications as Prescribed
It might still be difficult for your senior to take her medications the way that she should, especially if she’s experiencing cognitive changes or other issues. It might be a good idea to consider enlisting home health care providers to help with medication management. They can ensure that your elderly family member is taking her medication when she should and in the dosages that she should.
Medication and taking medication properly gets complicated, especially if your elderly family member is taking more than a few medications. Having some extra help makes that situation a lot easier.
Understanding diabetes is the key to living well and even to thriving with it, and the diabetic education that home health care providers can offer is tailored to your senior’s situation and to her needs.