Medications are an essential component for treating many medical conditions. However, several obstacles can occur.
Common obstacles include taking too many medications, keeping up with medication changes, and running out of medications. It can quickly become confusing and overwhelming for both seniors and caregivers to ensure medications are correctly and consistently taken.
This article will discuss common medication obstacles that your senior loved one may face and how you can help overcome them.
“I’m taking too many medications and don’t even know what I’m taking them for.”
Oftentimes, more than one medication is required to treat a medical condition. For example, your senior loved one may take two medications to manage their elevated blood pressure. In addition, they may have multiple medical problems, which results in taking even more medication otherwise known as polypharmacy.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with so many medications and be concerned about when and how your senior takes them. So what do you do?
It’s important to understand the reason your loved one is taking each medication. Understanding medications helps maintain compliance, and as a result, compliance leads to better-managed medical conditions.
Take some time to help your senior learn about the medications they’re taking for each medical condition. It’s an excellent idea to have a list of their medications and a note explaining what each one treats. This list will help point out possible duplicate medications or ones that your senior may no longer need to take.
In addition, it’s a great idea to keep this list in an easily accessible place in case of an emergency. For example, you can keep a copy of the list at home, and your loved one could have one in their purse or wallet. It’s also good to have a digital version saved on your phone.
If you feel like you and your senior loved one may need help managing all their medication, consider hiring a private patient advocate to assist you. Private patient advocates are health care professionals well-versed in medications who can offer more personalized assistance.
“I was discharged from the hospital with so many new medications; I don’t know which ones I’m supposed to take.”
As your senior’s health changes, medication requirements often change as well. For example, your senior may have been admitted to the hospital and found to have elevated blood sugar resulting in the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. In this situation, your senior will likely be prescribed an oral medication that could help maintain a lower blood sugar level in their body.
Oftentimes, especially if your senior has had a lengthy hospital stay, they’ll be discharged from the hospital with several different medication changes including: adjustment in medication dosages, removal of some medications, and the addition of new medications. This cumbersome process leaves a lot of room for errors. What part can you, as the caregiver, play in preventing medication errors?
Fortunately, there are steps you can take that may help prevent errors when medication changes occur.
Review medications before going home.
If your senior is being discharged, ask the nurse to review the updated list of medications with you before your senior leaves the hospital. It’s a good idea to repeat back what each medication is and what they treat to help further become familiar with them.
You’ll also be given a list with this information on the discharge paperwork. If any of this information looks inaccurate or confusing, ask your senior’s nurse to check with the doctor or other health care providers to confirm accuracy. Several health care systems practice these measures. However, each place is different, so it’s vital to request that home medications be reviewed with you and your senior.
Involve a family member or friend.
When your senior is discharged from the hospital, it means that they no longer require hospital care. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your senior’s symptoms have resolved.
As a result, at the time of hospital discharge, your senior may feel tired, possibly have some pain, and be unable to focus or recall all the conversation details with the nurse about discharge medication.
For this reason, it’s important to have another family member or friend with you, if possible, when the home medications are reviewed by the nurse or other medical staff. They can assist with asking any clarifying questions as well as taking notes.
Have your senior follow up with their primary care provider after any hospitalization.
The provider can review the discharge medications with them and update their medical records. This is also a great opportunity to discuss further questions you or your senior may have thought of after leaving the hospital.
“I’ve been out of my medication for three days. I’m not sure how to get more.”
Another obstacle is running out of medication. Even if your senior knows which medications they’re taking for each medical condition, it’s essential to have access to the medications.
There are several reasons why you may run out of medications. Your senior may lack transportation to pick up medications from the pharmacy or be unaware that the medication requires a refill order. In addition, your senior may have spilled some pills, misplaced the bottle, or accidentally taken an extra dose. Perhaps the medications are too expensive and your senior can’t afford them.
Staying compliant with taking your medication. How do you do it?
Make a plan of how your senior will obtain medications.
If transportation is an issue, look into mail delivery options, which can bring medications right to their doorstep. Alternatively, if needed, try asking for assistance with transportation from other family members or friends. Home caregivers, aides or companions are also available to help with getting to the pharmacy. Making a plan of how your senior will access medications is essential because it may help prevent missed doses.
Become aware of approximately how many refills your senior has left for each medication.
This information can often be found on the medication bottle. To be safe, make a habit of refilling medication a few days before running out. This gives the pharmacy enough time to adequately fill the medication requests.
Call the doctor's office and ask for a medication refill.
Accidents happen, including spilling or misplacing medication. If this happens to your senior, call your doctor’s office and explain the situation. They'll often refill the medication.
One exception is controlled substances, such as opioids. These medications are more tightly controlled due to their potential addictive behavior and side effects. As a result, health care providers will often be resistant to replacing a spilled or lost prescription.
Notify your senior’s health care provider if an extra dose of medication was accidentally taken.
Increasing the dosage of a medication can result in unwanted symptoms and side effects. Therefore, it’s important to inform your senior’s health care provider and discuss any new symptoms with them so that they can assist you and your senior with next steps.
If your senior’s medication is too expensive, talk to your senior’s health care provider to see if an alternative medication is more affordable.
Another option is to search for different prescription coverage and any funding assistance programs. If your senior is struggling with paying for your medications, ask the primary care provider for possible resources.
In addition, the pharmacy is often aware of payment assistance programs. In many cases, supplemental prescription insurance programs are available at low costs to seniors. Choosing the right insurance plan can be confusing. A patient advocate can help research plans that fit your loved one’s needs and provide you with comparison options so you and your senior can choose the best medication coverage.
In Conclusion
Overcoming medication obstacles can be a difficult task, but remember there is a lot of help available. Your senior’s health care team, family, friends and advocate can work together with you to help maintain the excellent medication compliance necessary to best manage your senior’s health.