Elderly Care Tips for Keeping Track of Medication

Studies have shown that as we get older, it becomes more difficult for the average person to keep track of small things. This is especially important when it comes to medication. As any elderly care provider can tell you, forgetting to take medication, or—worse yet—taking too much of it, can lead to dire consequences for many seniors.

That’s why it pays to have a system for keeping track of medication. While some seniors have their own system in place, many others do not. So here are a few tips from our elderly care providers for how you can help your senior loved ones build a smarter system for their medication schedule.

Know Your Loved One’s Medications

When it comes to medications, you need to be careful. That means following instructions to the letter. So if you’re helping a loved one create a system for their medication schedule, make sure that you’re informed about all of their medications. Always read all labels and any available documentation. If possible, speak with your loved one’s doctor to make sure that you know exactly what directions your loved one should follow.

Find a System that Works for Your Loved One

There are a number of smart strategies that elderly care providers use to keep track of medications. Usually, finding the right system is a matter of seeing which strategies work for a particular person. Try the following methods and see which of them are most helpful to your loved one.

• Create a written medication checklist for your loved one to use.
• You can take a written checklist a step further by printing out a new checklist each day. This way, your loved one can literally check off each dose.
• Use a pill organizer to pre-plan each week’s medications. Make helping your loved one fill their pill organizer a weekly activity.
• Make a habit of counting your loved one’s pills frequently so that you can track whether they are missing doses or taking extras.
• Set alarms on your loved one’s clock, watch, or cell phone.
• As an alternative to an alarm, you can give your loved one a call to remind them each day when they are supposed to take their pills.

Don’t Be Afraid to Use Elderly Care

Sometimes, even the most robust systems are hard for seniors to stick to. In these cases, elderly care is often helpful. By having a professional elderly care provider around, your loved one will no longer need to keep track of their medications all on his or her own.

For elderly care you can count on, click here or call Visiting Angels today. We will happily connect you with your local elderly care experts.