We all must have fallen sick at least once in our life. Hospitals, doctors, nurses, medicines – the only memory which we do not like revisiting. But then again, when you are sick, no one takes better care of you than the hospital management. If nothing, at least the medication is taken proper care of.
But, as soon as we step back home, we get back to the good ol’ way of living. Thanks to our everyday hustle, we often forget to take our medications properly. That is when the need for proper medication management arises. But, first…
What is medication management?
Medication Management, as the name suggests, is the process of handling the consumption of medicines properly. It is the regime that ensures that post-discharge, we take our medications religiously. While for younger people, medication management is not that tough a job to ace, for seniors, it is important to follow strict medication management owing to many reasons:
1. Chances of Adverse drug event (ADE)
Senior people often fail to take care of their medication properly. More often than not, we get to witness cases of medical errors like an overdose of medicines, allergic drug reactions due to the consumption of the wrong drug, etc.
No wonder why Adverse drug events (ADE) is very common among senior citizens. In fact, as per statistics, adverse drug events occur in more than 15% of older patients! This is one of the prime reasons why senior people must ensure strict medication management for themselves.
2. They are more forgetful than younger people
Let’s just admit – we all have a grandmother or a grandfather at home who forgets literally everything. Whether you ask them where the keys are or where did they put your cellphone – they just do not remember it.
This may feel annoying at times, but this is the effect of their growing age. And this also affects their medication management, if they are handling it themselves. Besides, if they are a patient with Dementia, then the case of missing out on drugs only increases. Therefore, proper medication management becomes a necessity.
3. They require continuous health evaluation
As soon as your age shoots above 50, diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and thyroid become a part of your life. In the early stage, it is possible for one to manage these himself. But, as the gaur turns grey, overall health keeps declining and continuous health surveillance becomes important to avoid any mishap
Besides, taking all these medications at the correct time, in the correct dosage becomes a hassle when you are a senior person. Thus, it becomes crucial to seek medication management.
4. Planned medication
Some seniors take medications as per their convenience and choice. They either take a very small dosage of the prescribed medicine or gulp in higher dosages. Either way, it is harmful to their health.
Other times, they may have several doctors looking after them which makes medication management even more complex. At this point, it becomes crucial for the senior person to take the help of medication management so as to plan their medication schedule wisely.
5. Sudden fall in health conditions
In the case of the majority of people aged above 65, it is often seen that certain medication causes their health to decline rather than improving the condition. There could be many reasons for this – either the prescription needs to be changed or the dosage needs to be readjusted.
The patient, under no circumstance, is advised to do this by himself. That is when the need for medication management like Medadvisor is felt.
6. Drug specification
Medications have a specified way of consumption. Some medicines cannot be taken along with specific food, while some cannot be taken once you have had your meal.
These specifications are important to take care of before consumption so as to ensure positive results. Seniors often make a mistake in this. Hence, medication management becomes an urgent need of the hour.
Over to you…
Medication management can be called an extension of the healthcare facility. It is important for anyone who is under medication, but for senior people, it holds due significance. Here, we listed the reasons why medication management is important for seniors. If you have a senior at home who is struggling with medications, it’s high time you should start considering medication management.