How to Help Your Loved One Remember to Take Their Medications

Are you concerned that your elderly loved one is not taking their medicine consistently? If you’re not sure, read more at our article here.

If you have discovered that your loved one is not taking their medication appropriately or consistently, read on.

Why Isn’t Your Loved One Taking Their Medications Properly?

It is important to understand why your loved one might not take their medications as prescribed and address those particular issues.

The World Health Organization has identified five interacting dimensions affect adherence. Which of these do you see putting your loved one at risk?

• Social and Economic factors
  This includes lack of effective social support networks, unstable living conditions, long distance from treatment center, high cost of transport, high cost of medication, changing environmental situations, culture and lay beliefs about illness and treatment, and family dysfunction
• Health care team and system-related factors
  This includes poor medication distribution systems, lack of knowledge and training for health care providers on managing chronic diseases, overworked health care providers, lack of incentives and feedback on performance, short consultations, weak capacity of the system to educate patients and provide follow-up, inability to establish community support and self-management capacity, lack of knowledge on adherence and of effective interventions for improving it
• Condition-related factors
  This includes patients' risk perception, the importance of following treatment, and the priority placed on adherence
• Therapy-related factors
  This includes the complexity of the medical regimen, duration of treatment, previous treatment failures, frequent changes in treatment, the immediacy of beneficial effects, side-effects, and the availability of medical support to deal with them
• Patient-related factors
  This includes forgetfulness; psycho-social stress; anxieties about possible adverse effects; low motivation; inadequate knowledge and skill in managing the disease symptoms and treatment; lack of self-perceived need for treatment; lack of perceived effect of treatment; negative beliefs regarding the efficacy of the treatment; misunderstanding and nonacceptance of the disease; disbelief in the diagnosis; lack of perception of the health risk related to the disease; misunderstanding of treatment instructions; lack of acceptance of monitoring; low treatment expectations; low attendance at follow-up or at counselling, motivational, behavioral, or psychotherapy classes; hopelessness and negative feelings; frustration with health care providers; fear of dependence; anxiety over the complexity of the drug regimen, and feeling stigmatized by the disease.

How Can You Help Your Loved One to Take Their Medications as Prescribed?

The American Society on Aging and the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists Foundation collaborated to create Adult Meducation, an online resource to help overcome barriers to medication adherence. The Adult Meducation website includes strategies for each dimension of adherence.

For example, the recommended strategies for a person with cognition or memory problems are as follows:

• Speak slowly and clearly; use simple language
• Repeat and rephrase information
• Confirm understanding; have person repeat information
• Provide written document using simple language to support verbal instructions
• Introduce reminder strategies tailored to the individual, such as pill organizers, calendars, phone reminder systems, electronic medication dispensing devices
• Involve caregiver

We suggest you review the Adult Meducation website so see each Dimension of Adherence and it’s recommended strategies.

How Care is There Can Help

If you are concerned that your elderly loved one may not be taking their medications as prescribed, we can:

• Set up a system to ensure prescriptions are renewed and medication is received
• Work with your loved one to identify barriers to medication adherence
• Attend doctor’s appointments with your loved one, and facilitate discussions about medication adherence problems, their causes, and possible solutions
• Suggest strategies to overcome your loved one’s barriers to adherence
• Implement adherence strategies and maintain them over time, including setting up a pill organizing system
• Arrange for pill boxes to be filled
• Visit your loved one to check on their medication adherence and resolve any issues

Resources for Medication Adherence

• World Health Organization
• Adult Meducation

Next Steps

Contact Care is There today for a free consultation!

Charlottesville Area: 434.326.5323
Shenandoah Valley: 540. 246.0211
Toll Free: 800.434.1633
Email: Info@CareisThere.com

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