Taking medication according to a doctor's orders, otherwise known as medication adherence, is critical to managing a person's health condition. This is especially true for older adults, who may live alone or have other limitations. Managing medications can be frustrating due to complicated prescriptions, impairments that limit someone’s ability to get or comprehend the medication, and how they go about obtaining their prescriptions via electronic means instead of face-to-face visits. For families who utilize in-home care for seniors, caregivers can provide valuable support with medication reminders and adherence. It is important that there are initiatives to support adherence to medication use, and some of these programs are supported by companion caregivers. Below are some helpful suggestions on effectively managing adherence to medications:
The ideas listed in this section are general ideas that can help with the adherence of seniors in all aspects of helping them manage medication usage. Each one of these ideas varies based on the individual, but consider focusing on the following six areas:
- 1. Use pill organizers: They remove guesswork and help track medication times and doses each day.
- 2. Establish a routine Take medications at consistent times, which caregivers can help schedule around daily activities.
- 3. Using Technology: Using digital reminders on the telephone or other mobile devices can be beneficial for seniors. Caregivers can help set up medication reminder applications for seniors on their mobile devices, teach seniors how to utilize the applications, and ensure that the reminders provided by the applications are consistent with their daily schedule.
- 4. Facilitating Communication with Healthcare Providers: Caregivers can assist seniors with potential barriers to communication by helping seniors create connections digitally with their healthcare provider, such as using telehealth, communicating with healthcare providers by using email, or communicating with their pharmacy.
- 5. Managing Pharmacy Pickups and Refills: Due to mobility limitations, seniors may have difficulty picking up their medications from their pharmacy or arranging to refill their medications. Caregivers can help seniors by picking up their medications from the pharmacy and ensuring their medications are refilled on time.
- 6. Educating the Senior as to the Purpose and Importance of Medication: Understanding the need for a specific medication and how the medication helps them will help seniors to be motivated to adhere to their medication regimen.
- 7. Promote as Much Independence as You Can: Although offering help is important for seniors with medication management, encouraging seniors to be as independent in their own medical management as possible will improve adherence as well as give seniors more of a feeling of control over their own healthcare.
- 8. Offer Emotional Support: Keeping up with complicated drug schedules can be quite stressful. Seniors who have companion caregivers feel less alone during their healthcare journey because they provide emotional support and reassurance.
Adhering to prescription medications is essential to ensure a healthy life for seniors; however, this process may not need to be done alone. If someone is caring for a senior, they may be able to help them with multiple different ways in order for both parties (the senior and the caregiver) to receive benefits from the medication taken. Caregivers can assist seniors with multiple aspects related to their medication management; this may include assisting a senior with organization or technology use (e.g., daily pill planner device, pharmacy tasks) as part of a comprehensive personal home care service. A senior can benefit from receiving emotional support throughout the entire medication management process, which will ultimately allow him/her to benefit fully from the prescribed treatments.
