As we get older, many of us end up taking a good number of prescriptions for a variety of different ailments. Of course, when you have more than just a couple of different prescriptions that are being taken, it can become cumbersome to attempt to appropriately take care of all of these items. You need to make sure that you are working with the senior parent to ensure that they have a solid grasp of their organizational skills, particularly when it comes to prescription medications. Take the following tips into consideration when speaking to your senior parents during October’s Talk about Prescriptions Month.

Organizing Paperwork

When dealing with prescription medications, there is often a lot of paperwork that comes with them. Organizing this paperwork can make it easier for senior parent to ensure that they are always taking the right medications at the right times, and also can help a lot when it comes to refilling their medications. Having all of the different paperwork and files related to prescription medication stored away will make it easy to find them when you need them, and provide you with numerous other benefits as well.

Pill Organizing Tools    

Another great tool for senior parents is pill organizing tools. These typically are containers that include separate individual containers for each different day of the week, and sometimes include AM lunch time, and PM containers. These are an excellent choice for anyone that is looking to ensure that their senior parents are always taking the medication that they require, when they need it. Oftentimes as we age it can become difficult to remember to take your medication when it is prescribed, which can lead to other issues.

Reminders

There are many different tools out there that can help to remind the senior parent to take their medication when they need it. For instance, there are multiple smart phone apps that can help to remind someone to take their medication when it is prescribed. Not all senior parents will be able to use a smart phone accurately, so more traditional methods such as alarm clocks might be a better option for you overall. Having something there to remind them take their medication helps to provide children of senior parents with peace of mind, and allows them to ensure that they always take medication when it is required.

Ledgers

Another excellent method for keeping track of medications is ledgers. Having your senior parent write down the different times they take medications allows them to be aware of when they miss medication, and help them to evaluate how much of a problem their prescription medications have become. Ledgers are an excellent, simple tool that can help families to better manage medications and evaluate if missing medication is a real problem.

Helping a senior parent with her medications can help them to live a more fulfilling life. Make sure that they are organized with pill organizing tools, proper paperwork, and reminders and ledgers if need be.

For all of your elder care needs in Cherry Hill, NJ and the surrounding areas call and talk to us at Home to Stay Healthcare Solutions (856) 321-1500.