Getting Help From Home

If one of your aging loved ones is still fairly independent but need a little more help as they get older, you may want to consider hiring personal care services. These services are especially helpful if your loved one needs to take regular medication. Here are three ways personal care services can help with medication needs.

They Help Patients Stay on Top of Refills

Some medications can be picked up easily since they are over-the-counter medications; some prescriptions can also be refilled easily without a doctor's appointment. However, some medications are considered to be controlled substances, meaning that your loved one's doctor needs to write a new prescription each time they want a refill. Your loved one may even need to turn in a hard copy of the RX to the pharmacy before it can be filled.

It can sometimes be hard to stay on top of controlled substance refills, so a personal care service can make sure that your loved one gets to his or her doctor's appointments to get these prescriptions. The personal care service can also make sure that your loved one doesn't run out of medication before the next refill date.

They Help Patients Avoid Double-Dosing

A common error for people taking medication is double dosing. A patient may forget they took a pill earlier in the day and take another one with a later meal. If you have multiple caregivers or family members visiting a loved one, it's easy for people to provide medications over and over when it's not needed. Double-dosing can be dangerous; for instance, too much diabetic medication could cause blood sugar that's too low. Too much blood pressure medicine could cause nausea and dizziness. In worst-case scenarios, you may have to call poison control if your loved has double dosed on medication.

With a personal care service, it's easier to organize medication schedules. The personal care service can set up a log that stays with the medication so that whenever a dose is taken, it's marked off in the log. The personal care service can help your loved one set up a pill sorter with compartments for daily doses, which can be very helpful if your loved one takes a lot of different medications each day.

They Help Patients Stay Ahead of Pain After Surgeries

One problem patients face after surgery is waiting too long to take their pain medications. A personal care service can help your loved one take medications at the right time to minimize pain. For instance, if a doctor recommends rotating between ibuprofen and acetaminophen, then a personal care service can remind your loved one which medication to take and at what intervals so he or she can recover more easily.