How do you help someone with their medication when you can't be there?

Buy a docette (sp?). They are 7 plastic pill containers in a tray with each day of the week going across the top and down the sides are the times to take the meds ( Morning, afternoon, evening, bedtime. Each square has a flip up lid, put the required pills in each square for the correct day and time, once the person takes their meds they leave the lid up so they can see what has been taken and what hasn't. Ask your pharmacist about these, they are very helpful at keeping track.

The only problem is someone needs to put the pills in the box each week. I can't have the person I'm caring for do that by themselves(too many mistakes).

oh.. so they are left alone for a week or more? Truthfully, if they are living alone and are not competent enough to handle their medication than they should not be living alone.

There is a bubble type packaging system that my husband/pharmacist uses for some of his customers. All of the pills that need to be taken at the same time are packaged together in one sealed bubble by the pharmacy. This can be set up for patients that take medication from one to four times a day(one to four bubbles per day). The bubbles are lined up in the order they are to be taken. I would call around to pharmacies in the area and see if any of them offer this type of packaging. It won't be the same thing as the nursing home packaging which packages each pill seperately.

The bubble packaging is the same idea as the docette that I mentioned above. The pharmacists not only charge a lot to fill the bubble pkg but many elderly people do not have enough strength to break the bubble and then sometimes the pills stick to the packaging. I think people who are confused about their meds should be having someone check on them once a day.

Can someone else drop by once or twice a week and fill the box? It is a simple task but it requires someone reliable and responsible.

My husband charges $10.00 a month total. These bubbles do not have to be broken. There is a paper backing that is pulled off. It is not the same as nursing home bubble packaging. He has many elderly people using this. Many times the patients adult children are the ones that call him and get their parents using this packaging.

Cindanne .. sounds like that might be an option as long as the patient remembers to go to the bubble pkg and take their meds. So does that mean they would have to get their prescriptions filled every month rather than get a few months supply?