Our bodies don’t stay resilient forever, and even the healthiest seniors may find themselves needing medicine now and then. No matter whether it’s a daily vitamin or a required pill to manage a chronic condition, medication helps you to maintain a good quality of life into your golden years.
Especially for folks who take several different medications, managing all of your pills can be a challenge. You may feel overwhelmed trying to remember which pills need to be taken with food or in the morning, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Those who qualify to receive assisted living care can also receive medication management services to help with the troubles of keeping track of your medicine. Find out more about the benefits assisted living medication management and the services offered.
What medication services are provided?
Medication administration is one of the services offered by assisted living. This includes storing a resident’s medications, transporting the medications to the resident, administering the medications to them and keeping track of the time the medications were taken. You are entitled to the “five rights” of medication administration, and any qualified assisted living facility will always abide by these. This means the right patient receives the right drug at the right time with the right dose and right route.
Older adults who need less support may opt to use medication assistance. This differs from medication administration in that your medicines are not as closely tracked and are simply dispensed to you. While they will check to ensure no medicine is misused, you may not be educated on the medication or monitored after taking it.
While medication administration and assistance is available, some services are not provided by assisted living:
- Diagnosing issues that require medication
- Prescribing medications
- Altering your medications in any way
What are the benefits of medication management?
Being able to live in a facility with medication management services provides you with a number of benefits. Medication management can help you to:
- Improve adherence. It is estimated that half of all medication prescribed is not taken properly. Medication nonadherence causes around 125,000 deaths each year, all of which could have been prevented if medicine was taken correctly. Medication administration services ensure you take your medications at the right time and frequency
- Helps maintain your independence. Though it seems counterintuitive, having your medicine administered to you actually helps you maintain your independence, not limit it. The better you care for yourself, the more likely you are to be able to be independent for longer.
- Keeps you safe from medication errors. Medication errors are a serious cause for concern and produce life-threatening results, including adverse drug reactions, drug-drug interactions and more. The person dispensing your medication will check that it is correct before administering it to you, preventing these errors.
Are you looking for an assisted living facility that can help you with managing your medications?
Contact us at Culpepper Place. We can help you or your loved one live a full, enriching life while staying healthy.
