It is easy to get stressed, busy, and just forget your medications. Most likely, your missed or late dose will not impact your overall well-being in the long run, but for the elderly, medication compliance is imperative for their vitality.
Elderly medication compliance is one of the biggest concerns among healthcare professionals. According to a study by Harris Interactive, over 50 percent of all prescriptions administered are not taken as prescribed or are never filled in the first place. This is an alarming statistic, especially considering the fact that non-compliance can easily be prevented with a little help. In fact, one of the many services provided by homecare companies is ensuring elderly mediation compliance.
Reasons for Non-Compliance
Elderly medication compliance typically fails because seniors:
• Are overwhelmed by the number of prescriptions they have to take each day-sometimes more than once a day
• Fear harsh side effects
• Simply forget or are confused by the physician's instructions
• Fear they will lose what mobility and functionality they have left by taking their medications
• Feel fine and therefore believe they don't need to take their medication
• Want to save money
• Cannot open their medication container or they have difficulty swallowing the medication itself
Risks of Non-Compliance
Not taking medications-regardless of the reason-can delay recovery, worsen symptoms, or even cause death. There are stringent guidelines for dosing by manufacturers and prescription takers are urged to comply with these guidelines. It is estimated that 80 percent of hospitalizations due to adverse drug reactions are caused by misinterpreting or ignoring the instructions.
Although most healthy adults discontinue medications once they feel better, it is important for elderly individuals to continue taking their medications to avoid any adverse reactions. In addition, elderly individuals don't always understand or know what they are taking. In these instances, they are at high risk for over-medicating by using nonprescription medications that can react poorly with their prescription medications. These mix-ups are especially dangerous because they can be life-threatening.
How a Homecare Company Can Help with Elderly Medication Compliance
• Creating medication routines: Caregivers can help elderly individuals set daily, individualized routines to help them remember their medications. These routines are designed to ensure medications are taken at the right dose and on-time to avoid over-medicating.
• Utilizing packaging aids and setting timers: Homecare workers can assist elderly individuals by using packaging aids that separate medications by day and time. To help the individual stay on-time, the caregiver can set timers that indicate when it is time to take their medication. This will ensure that there are no accidental missed doses or overdoses.
When people age and can no longer take their medications, it becomes a matter of health and safety rather than comfort. One of the reasons the elderly are often placed in nursing homes is to ensure medication compliance. However, with the help of a homecare company, elderly individuals can maintain their independence and freedom while still ensuring they take potentially life-saving medications. The company's caregivers can monitor, administer, and ensure elderly individuals take their medications, assist them with daily chores, and provide companionship that promotes physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Selasa, 21 November 2017
Minggu, 05 November 2017
Care Agencies: Support for Families of Alzheimer's Disease Patients
Alzheimer's Disease is a distressing and profoundly disturbing illness that attacks some senior citizens and causes huge psychological, emotional, financial and physical damage to the patient. Severe memory loss and inability to function normally, conduct their day-to-day activities and engage socially as they used to previously are some of the features noted in the illness. In later stages, loss of control over body-functions, emotional breakdown and finally coma and death are the features commonly noted.
In such a situation, the burden of care-giving is usually taken on by a spouse, child or close relative of the patient. However, the nature of the illness and the enormous effort it takes to care for a patient can extract huge costs on the care-giver and the entire family. Such care-givers and families may require support and constant counseling to keep their spirits up and allow them to continue to care for their loved one.
Another aspect is that Alzheimer's is incurable and only the symptoms can be addressed, while patient management becomes the most critical aspect of care-giving. Hence, if required, the services of a trained professional care-giver may also be considered to avoid the phenomenon of "care-giver burn-out" among the family and relatives of the patient. Care includes constant contact with doctors, financial and legal aspects, planning for the future and ensuring that the patient lives and dies with dignity and respect.
There are hundreds of professional agencies that offer the services of experienced and expert care-givers who are trained specifically in caring for Alzheimer's patients. Most large towns have support groups and care-giver counseling, information centers, care-giver locators, home-care services, meal services, respite or short-term care, live-in helpers, adult day-care, geriatric care management, counseling and hospice services.
Additionally, there are many government and state funded programs that offer financial and other support to care-givers. In the US, the PACE (Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) offers a combination of medical insurance, social services and long-term care costs for Alzheimer's patients and their families.
Often Alzheimer's can strike people younger than 65, and in such instances, social security benefits like a Disability Income are also available from the government. There are several insurance programs designed for these patients, as well as many private groups, NGOs and neighborhood care programs available for various kinds of support.
It is essential to remember that the type of care required keeps changing as the illness progresses, hence the nature of care and the types of efforts involved could be different at each stage. Constant contact with your family doctor, education and information gathering are all important to keep yourself up-dated about the latest development in Alzheimer's research.
In such a situation, the burden of care-giving is usually taken on by a spouse, child or close relative of the patient. However, the nature of the illness and the enormous effort it takes to care for a patient can extract huge costs on the care-giver and the entire family. Such care-givers and families may require support and constant counseling to keep their spirits up and allow them to continue to care for their loved one.
Another aspect is that Alzheimer's is incurable and only the symptoms can be addressed, while patient management becomes the most critical aspect of care-giving. Hence, if required, the services of a trained professional care-giver may also be considered to avoid the phenomenon of "care-giver burn-out" among the family and relatives of the patient. Care includes constant contact with doctors, financial and legal aspects, planning for the future and ensuring that the patient lives and dies with dignity and respect.
There are hundreds of professional agencies that offer the services of experienced and expert care-givers who are trained specifically in caring for Alzheimer's patients. Most large towns have support groups and care-giver counseling, information centers, care-giver locators, home-care services, meal services, respite or short-term care, live-in helpers, adult day-care, geriatric care management, counseling and hospice services.
Additionally, there are many government and state funded programs that offer financial and other support to care-givers. In the US, the PACE (Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) offers a combination of medical insurance, social services and long-term care costs for Alzheimer's patients and their families.
Often Alzheimer's can strike people younger than 65, and in such instances, social security benefits like a Disability Income are also available from the government. There are several insurance programs designed for these patients, as well as many private groups, NGOs and neighborhood care programs available for various kinds of support.
It is essential to remember that the type of care required keeps changing as the illness progresses, hence the nature of care and the types of efforts involved could be different at each stage. Constant contact with your family doctor, education and information gathering are all important to keep yourself up-dated about the latest development in Alzheimer's research.
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