Mother has dementia and is having problems with taking daily medication. Should she be living alone?

See my other post but there are programmable/locking med containers that only open at the programmed time.
if she’s aware of day of the week and time it might be an option.

When my mother began having problems taking her meds correctly, I then knew she couldn’t live alone any longer. It was a matter of her safety.
It also prompted me to look for other signs. We found she had been hiding meals we had brought over or from meals on wheels behind other things in the freezer which answered the question why she had lost a little weight recently. Sadly this was the end of her living alone.

Reminders, dispensers, organizers, etc., only work for so long. Then, they need a person to administer the meds correctly. It gets past the point where reading and processing instructions is possible. I would also keep in mind that once it reaches that stage, there are other risks to her being left alone, like leaving stove on, falling, not being able to call for help in case of emergency, letting in strangers, wandering from the house, etc. I know of several people who have fallen to the floor, had a phone or alert within reach, but, they are not able to call for help. They say they just didn't think of how to do it. It sounds odd, but, it really happens.

Mom, also is on medication for high blood pressure, she has heart failure. There an aid there in the morning and evening to make sure she is taking her med and prepare her meals. However, the problem is mom takes her med before the aide comes in. The aide is there to ensure she is taking her medication...aid is not allow to dispense medication to her out of the organizer. Yesterday, I talked with a lady from the agency and she suggest that we hide her medication until the aid comes to monitor her taking medications. I hope that will work out. Mom does not wander (sun downing) at this point. She is active, playing the piano, look at face book and participating various activities in her apartment building.

Thanks everyone who responded to my question...really appreciate your support.

Ann

I did the same thing rocket jet did but my nephew was living with my Mom. He did the pill planner every week and hid that and the rest of her meds up high in the cabinet.

For my Mom this was one of the first signs she would not be able to live alone. She forgot how to use the remote and telephone. She was getting up in the middle of the night getting ready for the next day. After a UTI there was no question that she had to live with me until other arrangements could be made. My nephew worked and had his own disabilities to deal with.

If you’re asking about the medications, you must be concerned there are other issues that maybe you aren’t mentioning in your post. What do the aides do for her? Are they allowed to dispense medications? Meds are very important. On more than one occasion, the doctor has told my husband that his meds are what’s keeping him alive.

Maybe Mom doesn’t need a facility right now, but there are things you should probably do if you haven’t already. Do you have POA? If not, do it now while she’s still competent to sign. Have an idea in mind of where she will go. Be thinking about filing for Medicaid if she can’t self-pay. When the time comes for her to go, it will be a relief to have a plan in place.

You have a home health aid? Is the aid supposed to get the pills out and hand them to her? Or has mom already screwed up by the time the aid gets there? I put moms pills in a daily pill organizer once a week, then hid the organizer out of her reach. When the aid got there she handed and watched mom take the pills, then re-hid the organizer. If she takes morning vs evening meds you may need to have someone monitor both. Taking meds as directed is very important since the body needs them on a regular cadence.

Anyway, to your original question if she can live alone? If you can you get the pill issue corrected, and she doesn’t exhibit other poor behaviors like wandering etc, she can probably still live alone but with help from aids. Mine lived independently for 6 years with the help of aids for 2 hours in the morning and 2 at night, but everyone’s situation is different and you haven’t told us her other symptoms that may concern you.

There are pill dispenser systems that allow you to lock meds in a box which will dispense them on a schedule but there isn't much you can do to ensure she actually takes the pills after she removes them from the box. Some people have mentioned calling their loved one and asking them to take the pills and/or monitoring them via remote video surveillance.