Veterans Senior Care – Encourage Your Elderly Veteran to Learn More about the Prescriptions they are Taking
This can be a tricky topic to talk about. Keep in mind that unless you are certified to administer medications, even though you may be a family member of an aging veteran who requires some type of care at home, you’re not legally permitted to hand them their medications. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t remind the individual when it’s time to take certain medications.
As people get older, they are going to deal with an increasing number of health problems. This will also usually correlate to an increase in prescription medications they are receiving. Some individuals have to take an assortment of pills morning, afternoon, late afternoon, and at night.
It can be confusing to keep track of everything, which is why pill organizers are so effective. As for the medications themselves, it’s a good idea for the elderly individual to understand exactly what each medication is for, what its purpose happens to be, and if they don’t know they should ask questions.
As a family member of an elderly veteran who needs some type of care at home, your concern is their safety and well-being. Even though you may be limited from a legal aspect with regard to administering medications, that doesn’t mean you can’t encourage your loved one to check with his or her doctor or visit the pharmacist to make sure they fully understand each medication they are taking and that they are safe for use with other medications.
Most pharmacists and pharmacies are set up as safeguards to prevent improper drug interactions. Some drugs can actually be more dangerous when taken with other prescription medications. The pharmacy is usually the firewall, or gatekeeper that is supposed to look for these potential problems. However, if the veteran has some prescriptions filled at the VA hospital, for example, but has others filled at a local pharmacy, there could be a disconnect. The local pharmacy or the one at the VA hospital won’t necessarily know all of the prescription medications the patient is taking, therefore they won’t be able to accurately protect the patient the way they should.
That’s why it’s so important for anyone, regardless of age, to be fully aware of what types of medications they are taking at any given time. Talk to your loved one about this and encourage him to learn as much as he can about these prescriptions.
For more information and to learn about veterans senior care, contact Veteran’s Home Care at (888) 314-6075.
