What is Medication Management for seniors living in their own homes?
As aging occurs, seniors are often prescribed various types of medications for maintaining their health and for treating different types of health issues. Very frequently, older individuals suffer from problems related to memory loss and physical disabilities. Additionally, some of the senior citizens have difficulty remembering the dose and schedule of medication. Few of them also have difficulty in getting their prescribed medicines or a refill whenever it is required. Thus, helping these individuals in scheduling their medications and remembering the right time of consuming them forms a vital part of the medication management for seniors who are living in their own homes.
What’s the use of Medication Management for Seniors?
Medication Management services helps in the development of a proper schedule for medication, constantly review various medication protocols followed, prepare a detailed list of all prescription as well as over the counter medications that an individual consumes, constantly educate the patient as well as their caregiver regarding proper dosing, frequency of drug intake and various side-effects or adverse effects, constantly provide an evaluation of patient response to different medications and their effectiveness and for constant communication with attending doctor for optimal results.
What are the benefits of using Medication Management?
There are various benefits of using medication management that include a) Better treatment outcome for the senior patients b) Reduction in the levels of stress for patients along with their caregivers or families as everyone is aware that the medications are monitored and are being consumed in a proper manner c) Less amount of money is spent on healthcare-related costs like visits to the emergency room and/or stay in hospitals d) As a result of proper compliance with prescriptions and reduced frequency of various side effects or interactions, there is a reduction in sickness as well as mortality. It is imperative that if a person neglects or forgets their medications that may result in drastic consequences.
By properly using medication management, individuals consume medications they require on time and every day. As a result, there is improvement in their quality of life. People surrounding the patient as a result of this, tend to worry less regarding their health and well-being.
Thus, the management of medications is a useful tool that is used for seniors to ensure that these individuals lead healthy and happy lives.
How do you manage multiple medications?
Preparing a complete as well as an accurate list of medications is the foundation for dealing with the proper administration of all medications and this often helps in handling various issues with the management of medication. These management tools also help in identifying various types of behaviors that may put patients at a risk for developing any adverse drug effect like overdose or under-dose or any missed medications or any other factors such as adverse drug effects which limit adherence to protocol prescribed by a physician.
Medication Management for children
Proper managing medications at home in children has helped in reducing the number of visits to the hospital in conditions where ambulatory care is required. Hence, proper access to primary care and quality of healthcare shows improvement. This is especially beneficial to the children with special care needs who need assistance due to the inability to perform basic activities required for daily survival.
How are children qualified for medication management?
Medical conditions
Children suffering from a variety of medical conditions such as disabilities affecting motor skills, learning ability, and sensory perception are the perfect candidates who require medication management as their caregivers or parents sometimes, might not be able to give complete attention due to work-life responsibilities.
Insurances (benefits and eligibility)
Various insurance programs cover early along with periodic health screening, diagnosis, and treatment for children as well as adults. One should opt for a comprehensive package that benefits the individual by not only covering health services but also, various developmental services like habilitation services that help individuals in attaining, maintaining, or improving various skills for maximizing their day-to-day functions. Large numbers of insurance programs cover these requirements and have benefits. There are various benchmarked private insurance companies that include additional as well as important benefits. Few of these insurance policies also cover dental and oral health care, which are often excluded from private health insurance policies and are purchased separately. Coverage of dental treatment is important because oral diseases especially, dental caries are the most commonly occurring disease of childhood and are completely preventable. If left untreated may result in pain and absence from school that indirectly affects their parents.
These insurance policies also provide cover for annual eye and hearing examinations and routine check-ups. These also provide cover for various outpatient as well as in-patient mental health check-ups and treatment. These provide coverage for the treatment of children with special healthcare disabilities. They provide insurance cover for various types of physical, occupational, speech and language treatments as well.
Where can you get Medication Management?
Medication management services is a specialized type of health care service that has been designed for helping individuals in managing various medications so that they can consume them on a timely basis and also, avoid dangers involved in incorrect administration of various medicines. This type of service has often been used for assisting in different types of living conditions and especially, for senior individuals.
Five Important Tools for Managing Medication at Home
These are as follows a) By placing a Pharmacist in charge of managing the medication therapy which ensures that the patients or their caregivers follow all the treatment guidelines. These individuals are well trained and qualified for providing complete information and educational guidelines/instructions, providing consultation and providing advice to patients and family members and/or caregivers b) Ensuring sufficient access to a registered pharmacist or any pharmacy student for round the clock availability of patients during clinical as well as after clinical hours c) Providing education involving mistakes that can be due to wrong medicine intake, overdose, confusion regarding medication or consumption in an inappropriate manner, for example, consuming a medicine empty stomach when it should be consumed after food d) Checking if a patient, particularly, an old patient is properly taking the prescribed medicines e) By removing any unnecessary as it reduces various drug interactions and their side effects. Thus, removal of extra medications should be one of the goals in any medication management program, whenever considered appropriate.
What is the process of Medication Management?
The process of medication management includes the following features: a) Correct medication: If the right medication has been procured and is correctly labeled b) Correct Dose: The health care provider must know the correct quantity of drug to be administered c) Correct Timing: The health care provider or care giver must be well versed regarding the right timing of medication that is to be given d) Knowledge regarding the correct route of drug administration: The person responsible for medical management should be well aware of the correct route of drug administration that is by oral route or by injecting e) Appropriate identification and selection of patient: The health care provider or caregiver must be able to identify if a particular patient is being administered the correct medicine with right dosages or if there are multiple patients being taken care of, whether the right medicine is being given to each person f) Providing sound knowledge and education to each patient: Each patient should be well informed regarding medication prescribed and its effects and possible side-effects or adverse events g) Right for refusal of treatment: In case, any patient refuses treatment, the patient should be made aware of various consequences. Following this, the attending physician should be notified and proper documentation should be made h) Proper assessment of the medication safety must be done. In case of any doubt or hesitancy exhibited by the patient, the attending physician should be contacted i) Right Evaluation: After administration, assess the patient for adverse effects and medication effectiveness, compare the patient’s pre-and post-administration condition and documents j) Proper Documentation: Patient’s medication, dosage, route of administration and time of drug administration should be properly documented in medicine chart and then signed.
Centric Healthcare Medication Management Services
Our medication management program
One can hire health care professionals for visiting the elder patient who requires medication management and these healthcare professionals will assist the individuals in the management of their medicines. These trained professionals help in the proper administration of the prescribed medications along with assisting the afflicted family member with other types of daily needs such as taking a shower and dressing. Most of the time, a 24 hours service is required as the affected subject groups are either frail or very young children, however, this may be costly.
Life-changing result
Medication management is a helpful tool that is used for dealing with indicated individuals for leading a healthy and happy life especially if compliance regarding medication as well as management is a priority.
