You might want to look around for a compounding pharmacy in your area that handles "medi-sets" for patients. They've been super helpful for us, since both my parents have memory loss and they need support to know when to take which medicines. It does require following up to make sure they take the meds as they're supposed to. This is an example of the kind of thing I'm talking about: medicapidaho/pharmacy-services/custom-med-packs/
Had this same problem when mom was home. Got a box with 4 slots a day and 7 days to fill up. my mom takes about 12 med's a day and it was difficult to get the pills to fit in the slots at the alloted time such as the morning slot. She still didn't get all the pills out of the slots, you had to check behind her. It's very stressful. I know that a pharmacy in the neighboring town to us will put a patient's med's in bubble paper for each day and different time of the day for a fee.
Our locally owned pharmacy offers the option of having meds placed into individual baggies with the time and date marked on them for a flat fee of $25 a month including delivery. A lot of people use this besides folks in personal care homes.
I was a visiting RN for six years. If your insurance covers it, or you want to private pay, you could get a visiting nurse to do it. It was my experience, however, that neighbors were at least as good, if not better alternatives. These are my reasons:
1) You can choose the neighbor. Smart, caring and responsible are important criteria. If you get a nurse (like me, for instance) who you get is the luck of the draw. As well, because of staffing issues, there is not guarantee of continuity of service from a single nurse. 2) If there's a problem with filling the prescription, the neighbor is more likely to resolve it. Many nurses instruct the patient to wait for the pharmacy to deliver the missing meds and then finish the prepour themselves-- often, patients don't do this for any number of reasons from confusion to feelings of disempowerment. The nurse is ordered to visit once every one or two weeks for a prepour. Many won't come an extra, un-compensated, time to put 5 pills in a box. 3. The neighbor will probably be easier for you to contact by phone than a nurse. 4. The insurance trend now is to limit visits to manage medications to only once every two weeks. I never felt comfortable with this. There is too much potential time lapse between a doctor-ordered change in dosage or medication and the next scheduled visit. 5. Blister packs are a good alternative. But be sure someone is double checking that the pharmacy is on the same page as your parent's doctors. Call the doctor every couple of months to verify that your parent is receiving the medications your doctor wants.
Pstegman also makes a really good point. Consolidating meds so that the patient is taking the least number of pills possible, is really important for adherence. Insurance, however, can make this hard. Extended release medications are often not covered because they're expensive.
Another important piece of consolidation is working with your pharmacy to see if you can have all meds picked up on the same day of the week or month. Cuts down on work and confusion.
A pharmacy in Youngsville, LA (Ackal's Community Pharmacy) has a program where they package all medications by doses in sealed cups in a color coded calendar.. We have my Grandparents medication filled this way. Its a pill cup, on a calendar, by color (time of Day). We love it... Hope this helps
VNA gave mom a 7 day pill box with 4 compartments in each day. If she's on a lot of meds, see if you can't cut some of them out or cut them down. Get a list of what she is on an talk to the pharmacist and MD.
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1) You can choose the neighbor. Smart, caring and responsible are important criteria. If you get a nurse (like me, for instance) who you get is the luck of the draw. As well, because of staffing issues, there is not guarantee of continuity of service from a single nurse.
2) If there's a problem with filling the prescription, the neighbor is more likely to resolve it. Many nurses instruct the patient to wait for the pharmacy to deliver the missing meds and then finish the prepour themselves-- often, patients don't do this for any number of reasons from confusion to feelings of disempowerment. The nurse is ordered to visit once every one or two weeks for a prepour. Many won't come an extra, un-compensated, time to put 5 pills in a box.
3. The neighbor will probably be easier for you to contact by phone than a nurse.
4. The insurance trend now is to limit visits to manage medications to only once every two weeks. I never felt comfortable with this. There is too much potential time lapse between a doctor-ordered change in dosage or medication and the next scheduled visit.
5. Blister packs are a good alternative. But be sure someone is double checking that the pharmacy is on the same page as your parent's doctors. Call the doctor every couple of months to verify that your parent is receiving the medications your doctor wants.
Pstegman also makes a really good point. Consolidating meds so that the patient is taking the least number of pills possible, is really important for adherence. Insurance, however, can make this hard. Extended release medications are often not covered because they're expensive.
Another important piece of consolidation is working with your pharmacy to see if you can have all meds picked up on the same day of the week or month. Cuts down on work and confusion.