How A Home Health Aide Can Help Seniors Avoid Common Medication Mistakes
News you can use | May 20, 2016
There are many adults today who are happy to have a professional home health aide to look after and help care for their parent or loved one. While many adults know the benefits that can come from having a professional home health aide, they do not realize just how important these professionals can be when it comes to helping their loved ones with proper medication management.
One of the most serious issues that impacts in home senior care today is poor medication management. There are so many family members who think that their loved one is fully capable of handling their own medication, only to find out that that they are actually unable to manage their medication on their own. Some of the most common medication mistakes that impact seniors include:
- Taking too much of a medication and accidentally overdosing
- Accidentally taking too little of a medication
- Forgetting to take a medication completely
- Taking medications at the wrong time, an issue that can cause sleep problems
- Taking two medications together that shouldn’t be mixed
- Forgetting to eat or drink water when taking a medication, which can cause nausea, dizziness and a number of other symptoms
- Mixing medications
- Eating the wrong foods while taking certain medicines, such as eating too much vitamin C while taking blood thinning medications
For individuals who have a home health aide caring for their senior parent, it is important that they take a moment to talk to this professional about medication management. Not all home care professionals will start medication management without being told to do so. This is why it is so important for seniors, their children, and their caregivers to be on the same page about how prescriptions are managed in the home. That way, you can rest assured knowing your loved one is safely taking the medication they need to be their healthiest.