Suggestions for medication reminder device or service?
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Anonymous
| My elderly mom lives alone and takes several different medications, which are organized into pill minder boxes according to the day of the week and time of day they should be taken. Recently we have noticed that on occasion she is skipping doses, or combining medications that are meant to be taken at different times. Have any of you ever used a medication reminder phone service that calls the elderly parent when it's time to take meds, or an alarm or some other solution to help make sure meds are taken at the right time? We do have a care manager who visits regularly to arrange med refills, keep pill minders organized, and report to us on how mom is doing. She is looking into meds reminder options as well but I thought I would ask here as there are many DCUMers who are dealing with eldercare issues. Any and all suggestions appreciated! |
Anonymous
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I have no experience but am intrigued by this:
https://herohealth.com/ |
Anonymous
| They have these timer caps for the prescription bottle that tell you how much time has passed since you last opened the bottle. That was helpful for me but I only had one prescription to take. |
Anonymous
| Phillips Lifeline (they also make the alert call buttons for people who fall) has a medication dispenser device. You load the doses in and it dispenses at the right time,if the person doesn't pick up the cup in a certain amount of time then a caregiver/ family member is called. |
Anonymous
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OP, not the answer you're looking for but .. I would have a pharmacist weigh in on the timing/dosage/need for every medication. A second opinion.
To often it is *only* the need for medicaion management that sends elders to assisted living. Often they can do everything else for themselves There may ba some medications that could be eliminated if the benefit is not as great as the risk to them when the RX is not taken properly. Example: high cholesterol medication. |
Anonymous
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this is a review of the product: https://www.techenhancedlife.com/reviews/hero-medication-dispenser They might have reviews for other products. They say "About this Research We have an ongoing initiative researching the tools that are available to help manage medication, and avoid the complications that accompany poor adherence. Our most recent research is a hands-on evaluation of a variety of complex medication management systems." |
Anonymous
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This is a really great analysis of the different options out there:
https://www.techenhancedlife.com/citizen-research/best-automatic-pill-dispenser-you |
Anonymous
This is really interesting, and I think very accurate. My elderly mom lives with us and is now at 85 showing the first signs of real cognitive decline. However, I had to take over her medication management about a year ago as she was losing track of what she was taking, and skipping doses etc. Now it's to the point where I hold all her meds (I have health care POA as well as legal POA) and give them to her am and pm, as well review with her (using a sheet of paper listing all meds) what each med is for. I use a weekly pill sorter so each day is marked clearly am/pm. She's in pretty good health, but takes meds for cholesterol, blood pressure, depression and must take regularly and at the correct dosage. I can't envision her being able to use any kind of device, even with the pill box and list of meds I use with her. |
Anonymous
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Honestly, this is a big reason—but not the only reason—why my grandma has a home health aide.
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