• Use a weekly pill organizer with four closed compartments for each day. This will give you enough little boxes for morning, midday, afternoon, and evening meds. Even if you don’t need to administer meds four times daily, the extra compartments are useful for vitamins and supplements that you want to give regularly. Make sure the meds for each day are removable as four so that if you need to go out for the day or take your senior away overnight, you don’t have to bring along the whole organizer. Caring Professionals’ weekly organizer meets all these criteria for convenience and efficiency!

• Don’t sit down to fill up the weekly sorter unless you are rested and can focus. You cannot do this when you are tired or distracted. You need to make sure that you are not on the phone and can methodically do the few minutes of sorting and organizing.

• This is not a job for someone whose reading skills are deficient or is not literate in English. Be smart! Do it yourself if you must so that the right medications are given in the right amounts.

• If you are caregiving for more than one individual, make sure you label each organizer with permanent marker so that the right person gets the right medications.

• Ordering ready-made packets from the pharmacy at a minor cost is worthwhile. This is a good idea if you cannot do it yourself and it is well worth the money. However, if your patient’s medications vary regularly based on bloodwork (such as blood thickness), you will have to put that medication in the organizer based on the instructions from the nurse/doctor.

• If your patient is going out for the day, set an alarm on the phone so that he can stop his activities and take his medication. 

• Wear your glasses when you do this! You want to be sure that you notice the dosage as well as how many times a day to take the medication. 

• Don’t wait until the last minute to refill prescriptions. Since you will be preparing pills for a week at a time, you will know in advance when refills will be needed. Get on the phone to the doctor’s office and ask for a prescription. Keep in mind that although you may order them all at once, the pharmacy may be out of a particular medication and will need to wait for a shipment. So even if you order the refills at once, you may not get them all at once. 

More Caregiving articles from Caring Professionals Home Care Agency:

• Hospital to Home Discharge Process: Essential Steps and Requirements
• Five Pro-tips for Dealing with a Hospitalized Loved One
• Hospital Admissions Guide: Critical Tips and Emergency Preparedness
• Turn off the TV for my Senior??? Yes
• Handling the Difficult Patient During a Medical Crisis
• Change My Diet, Really?!