Top Tips if Elderly People Are Struggling to Take Their Medication

Ensuring elderly loved one’s take their medication can often feel like an uphill battle. If you feel as if you are constantly having to nag and force them to take their pills when they are reluctant to do so, this can put a strain on your relationship. And naturally, if you are not there all the time and you are concerned they are not taking the pills they need, you are likely to be very worried about their welfare, especially if they have a major health condition.

This guide provides some of the top tips you should follow to help ensure your loved ones are taking their pills without having that constant battle.

1. Help Them Take It

If your elderly loved one is not taking their medication, the first step is to explain the importance of the pills and, if there is a still a refusal, find out why. Perhaps they don’t like the taste or find a pill hard to follow.

If that is the case, try to make the process easier for them. For instance, you might encourage them to take their medication with food, or make squash for them to disguise the taste.

2. Seek Alternatives

Alternatively, if you speak to the prescribing professional, they may be able to provide the medication in a different format that is more palatable.

It is also possible that your loved one could be taking too many pills. There are clinical pharmacists in most GP practices who able to help patients with complex needs get the best from their medication by reducing, when possible, the different types of medications prescribed: research shows that patients taking five or more different medications have a 50% chance of an adverse drug interaction!

3. Invest in a Pill Box

A pill box is one of the most useful tools that you can buy for an ailing older adult, especially if they keep forgetting to take their pills, and this is causing their health to suffer.

Pill boxes usually have little compartments in them where you can place pills, and they are labelled for each day of the week. Looking at this pill box, your loved one will easily determine whether they have taken their pill that day, even if you are not around to help them.

However, in most cases it is advisable for you or another carer to fill this box up for them every time you go around to their house until it becomes a habit.

4. Set Alarms

It can be easy to forget to take medication if the senior in your life is distracted or focused on another task. To make sure that they take time out of their day to take their essential pills, you could set alarms for them using a mobile phone. These alarms can prompt them to take their medication at the same time each day.

However, you might struggle to make this work if your senior is not able to effectively use a mobile device. If that is the case, you could explore the range of specialised medication reminders available.

5. Consider a Care Home

If your loved one is failing to take the medication they need, it might be time to consider getting external support such as home care services or even considering a care home that can better look after your loved one’s needs.

If you cannot be there for them 24/7, and most people can’t, this might mean that pills are being missed without your knowledge. If dementia is an issue, as well as other major health conditions, this is putting your loved one at risk, especially if they live alone.

Luckily, there are many care homes around that can take over as their support system, and that can track their medications throughout the day. Of course, this is just a small part of the care they can offer to your loved one. Ultimately, a good care home should keep your loved one safe and healthy.
Always check the Quality Care Commission have rated the care home you are considering Good or Excellent. For instance, Corbrook Park in Audlem, Cheshire, provides care for older people, including special dementia specialist care.

Conclusion

It can be very challenging when looking after an elderly loved one. Ensuring they take their prescribed pills is just one of the problems you may encounter. However, it is extremely important this is monitored. You should take the steps suggested to ensure your loved ones are taking their medications otherwise any health conditions could deteriorate extremely rapidly causing longer term implications.