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The Importance Of Medication When Caring For Seniors

It is inevitable that, when you are caring for seniors, you will have copious amounts of pills and solutions to go through on a daily basis. When a senior gets to the point that he or she can no longer take care of their own affairs, it is pretty obvious that her or she can also no longer take care of their own body too. As a result of either physical or mental ailments, they are likely to have several prescriptions on the go for the various maladies, and all at the same time. Although it may be a mammoth task to sort through all of them, it is extremely important that you do so. The elderly person in your care has been prescribed the medication for a reason and, if it were left up to them, the various pills and potions would not get taken at all.

There are steps you can to take to help yourself where the elderly person in your charge is concerned. Firstly, you must sort through all of the medications and make sure that you are fully informed about all of the dosages as well as checking that the prescriptions are up to date. There is only one way that you check your findings against the relevant prescriptions and that is a brief consultation with the doctor who has been dealing with the person you are looking after. Of course, they are not allowed to tell you about another individual's medical history unless they receive the express consent of the individual in question. You should therefore take the senior in question with you. Not only can the doctor then provide you with all of the information that you need, but he or she can also place your name on the necessary medical records to denote your status as primary carer.

As soon as you are armed with all of the information you need, you can start to get organized. The most important thing to do is establish a routine so that no medications are ignored or forgotten about. The routine will also help the senior in your care to settle under your authority. He or she will be reassured by the fact that there are specific times for certain medications and will feel all the better for it. It will also give you peace of mind so that do not worry about the finer details that you may forget from day today. The routine will effectively take care of all of that.

You can use all kinds of tools to ensure that medications are taken in the correct doses at the correct times. It may be an idea to compile a checklist for you to fill in every day when medication has been taken. This will also enable you to keep track of the supply of each medication that you have. You will then know when it is time to refill the prescription. Daily doses boxes are also a fantastic idea in this sort of situation. The come in little grids that are sealed to prevent the senior from getting to them and taking them at the wrong times or in the wrong doses. You can fill them at the start of every month, thus making your daily task of regulating the medication that little bit easier. It will also keep them all in the same place and save you valuable time that can be better spent doing other things.

Medication is an important part of any senior's daily routine, but it is one that should be adhered to at all costs. Taking one tablet at the wrong time or in the wrong dose can have severe adverse effects and also cause further health problems that would best be avoided. By creating a highly organized system, you can avoid any such mistakes and enhance the life of the elderly person in your care no end.