The Practical Caregiver: Keeping Up with Your Loved One's Medications

The process of getting and filling a prescription is so commonplace that it is easy to forget just how powerful modern medications are. But consider this fact: the active ingredients in a typical pill constitute just a small part of its contents, amounting oftentimes to a minute fraction of an ounce. Yet even at these doses, these substances exert a powerful influence over the human body, controlling heartbeat, lowering cholesterol levels, and decreasing anxiety. For your loved one’s own safety as well as to maximize the beneficial effects of these medications, it is critically important that they follow their prescription exactly. 

Insist on Legible Labels
One solution is to make sure your loved one’s prescription is filled at a pharmacy that labels the bottle in an easy-to-read format. Thanks to the inspiration of Deborah Adler, a graphic designer, more and more drugstores are doing so. After her grandmother inadvertently took the wrong medication, Adler, an MFA student at the time, took a fresh approach. Her simple yet groundbreaking design caught the attention of Target, which used it as the basis of their Target ClearRx ^SM prescription system. 

Observing that the cylindrical shape hindered the display of information, Adler developed a flatter, D-shaped container. Her design incorporated a logical hierarchy of information, with the most important information at the top, color-coding for each family member, and a slot to hold extra information about the medication. Target’s new system was launched in 2005 and other pharmacies are following suit. 

Buy Online in Large Quantities
Another simple precaution is to have your loved one’s prescriptions filled by an online pharmacy. In addition to saving you frequent trips to the drugstore, using an online service will ensure that your loved one takes their medication without interruption. 

Online pharmacy services are often offered in conjunction with health insurance plans. When you use an online pharmacy, your loved one’s physician will order a 90-day supply with a number of refills. When your loved one needs a refill, you can order it online and receive it by mail in just a few days. The pharmacy will bill a credit card for the cost. Because you are buying in quantity, you usually receive a discount on the price.

Use a Pill Box
Medication reminders have also gone high-tech. The traditional pill box, with separate compartments for times of the day and days of the week, has now been updated with a host of electronic bells and whistles, including talking alarms. For a nominal fee, you can also sign up your loved one to receive automatic reminders by phone whenever it’s time to take their medication. You set these reminders by filling out an online form.

Small changes can make a big difference in your loved one’s success in taking their medications properly. The benefits, measured in their well-being and your peace of mind, can be dramatic.