Managing medications for our seniors in 
Bettendorf and Moline can often times be a confusing and time-consuming task for the family caregiver. We hope this quick checkpoint will help you develop a medication management plan that fits your family needs.
Create a list of all over-the-counter and prescription medications. Include your parent’s name and date of birth. Additionally, list the drug name, dosage, any instructions and refill frequency. Home Instead Senior Care developed a Senior Emergency Kit that has worksheets available to print so as to organize and keep track of this information important information.
List all food and medication allergies. Also, pay close attention to food and supplement interactions that some medications may list.
Include the pharmacy name and number, all health care providers and phone numbers, as well as family contact information. Place this list on the refrigerator, emergency medical teams are trained to look for contact information here.
Combine pharmacies for better medication oversight. If possible, relocate all prescriptions to one pharmacy location so that the pharmacist has a complete list of all medications, as well as over-the-counter medications, and supplements.
Track new prescriptions. When a new medication is introduced, please read the reference materials.
Develop an organization system that suits your family. Plastic pill box organizers and electronic alarm pill reminders are available at pharmacies as well as websites such as www.forgettingthepill.com. The Philips Medication Dispenser could be an invaluable tool for senior loved ones needing to take multiple medications at different times of the day with unique pill taking instructions. Find out more HERE.
Weekly organization meeting. If possible, meet with your parent once a week to assist with filling pill box and reviewing medications for expiration’s and proper refill schedule.
Communicate with your parent. Discuss your parent’s health care providers instructions and review all prescriptions for proper administration.
Please view our last video in the Helping Seniors to Manage Medication series.
Do you have a medication management tip that works? If so, please share with our readers!
We hope this was helpful. If you have any questions or if you know of a senior who could benefit from our vast array of home care services in the Quad Cities area, please call us at 563.359.0027 or email us. We accept most long term care insurance as payment and have a full time staff of over 125 trained and certified home care personnel covering the Moline, Bettendorf, Quad Cities areas of Iowa.
