Have you or a loved one ever got in a muddle with taking medication? If so, you are not alone. There can be various reasons why taking medication can prove a challenge. This can range from being unable to open the packaging, struggling to read the label, or simply just forgetting.
Our post below shares our 5 top tips for taking your medication, which will hopefully make your life easier and missed medication, a thing of the past.
Organise your tablets
It can be extremely easy to forget to take medications, especially when you have multiple tablets to take at different times of the day. A weekly pill organiser (dosette box) can be very helpful to combat this. Most pill organisers have days of the week marked on them with separate morning, noon and night compartments to help you stay on track.
A similar option to pill organisers are weekly blister packs. These are made up by the pharmacy (you don’t have to organise the tablets yourself). They are split into morning, lunch, dinner and bed for each day of the week. This makes it easier as you don’t have to organise anything, you just take the tablets at the correct time.
You could also book our Wellbeing Assistants to administer the medication for you, they will only be permitted to administer from the original packaging, with prescription labels attached. This will be peace of mind and it is recorded on an EMAR for your records and your families.
Set daily alarms
Timing in medicine management is important. In most cases, a missed dose is not life-threatening but in some people, it can be. There are a number of techniques to help you to remember when it is time to take your tablets. The first is to set alarms. These can be on your watch, your telephone, on a medication carousel, or on just a regular clock. Alarms can be particularly helpful on busier days when your mind may be on other things.
Another way to ensure you take your medication on time is by building it into your daily routine. If you are due to take your blood pressure medication in the morning, you can put the box by the kettle as a visual reminder. This way you will see it when you go to make your morning cup of tea. Similarly, keeping bedtime medicines on your bedside table can be helpful.
Alternatively, you could book support from Katherine Harriet and our Wellbeing Assistants will support you to take your medication at a time that is required.
Eat if necessary
Certain medications require you to eat prior to taking them and it is important to do so if these directions are given. There are some tablets such as strong painkillers that can make you feel nauseous, especially on an empty stomach. If you need to take strong painkillers before you get up in the morning, get prepared the night before. Take a glass of water and a couple of biscuits to bed with you, along with your medication. Then, when you wake in the morning you can take your pain relief and have a biscuit to stop you from feeling sick.
If you are out and about make sure you always have a snack with you, in case you need to take medication unexpectedly. You could also book our Wellbeing Assistants to prompt, and bring, some food to you before taking your medication.
Ask for help
If you are really struggling with medicine management it might be time to enlist the help of a family member, friend or a Wellbeing Assistant, from Katherine Harriet. A carer can help with the practicalities of taking medicines such as opening bottles and boxes, but they can also help ensure that you get the right medication, at the right dose and the right time. Having someone else involved lessens the chance of missed doses or accidental overdoses and everything is recorded, this is peace of mind for yourself and your family.
If you would like to enquire into our services, please call the office on Tel: 01432 483083, alternatively, if you are a client already with Katherine Harriet, we will come out and complete a risk assessment to add to your bespoke care package.
Keep an up-to-date list of your medication
When you take multiple medicines it can be hard to remember what they are or what you take them for- let alone how often and what the dose is. This is why having an up-to-date list of the medicines you take can be a good idea. You can ask your GP to print off a medication summary or use the white side of your last prescription. Keep this list in a safe place like your purse or wallet and make sure that your next of kin or a friend, knows where it is too.
If you are a client with Katherine Harriet, we keep a list on our system of the medications we administer, we can also print this off for you at any time to keep to hand. It is always advisable to keep a list in case of emergency situations and required by the emergency responders.
Jessica Dunn
Office / Administration Manager
