Organizing weekly medication is a task that requires a lot of attention, since adherence to treatment may depend on it.
Whether caring for the elderly or dependent people, patients need to keep accurate control of their daily intake. How to get it?
We can organize the medication as follows:
- Per day to be taken
- By hour, or time of day
- By format,since we don't always talk about pillsÂ
In order not to forget a single dose, the best way to organize the medication is in blister packs or pill boxes, the SPDs being the safest for polymedicated patients and elderly people.
During this blog post we will explain what a polymedicated person is, and what is the best way to organize medication, without incurring any cost.
What is treatment adherence, and how does it affect the patient?
Pharmacological adherence or therapeutic adherence It consists of the persistence that we present during treatment.
On many occasions, special emphasis is placed on polypharmacy patients, and it is only50% of people with chronic diseases have therapeutic adherence.
Do you know how therapeutic adherence can be measured? On the one hand, we find the time factor, that is, the duration we decide to dedicate to the treatment, from the day it starts until we complete it. If this period coincides with the duration that the doctor has prescribed, we will be doing good monitoring.
On the other hand, we must take into account the way we carry it out. If we have been prescribed 3 pills and we only take 2, we will not be having good therapeutic adherence.
But... What is a polymedicated person?
Currently we understand a polymedicated person as someone who takes 5 or more drugs during the day. However, this may vary depending on the doses and the amount prescribed.
Despite this, youOnly 1 in 3 patients take their medication correctly. This can have multiple consequences, such as resistance to treatment, or higher costs due to increased visits and medical tests.
You can find the keys to strengthening adhesion here.
What to do if my father refuses treatment?
It is common to find cases where the patient has difficulties organizing their medication, or does not remember what time of day they should take it. Many times we are children or friends who look after their health, even if they refuse to take medication.
If you want to help them take their medication organized, and not put the therapeutic adherence, We recommend you take these steps into account:
- Make sure the medication format is appropriate.
- Stimulate your memory with games and daily challenges.
- Promotes moderate exercise to improve your cognitive ability.
- Reinforce their routines and don't break them whenever possible.
You may have to remind him more often or check on him at first. Like everyone, we must adapt to new habits and we do not always do it at the same speed.
If you are worried about whether your parents have taken their medication correctly, you can read our article “Adherence control: 3 ways to know if your parents take their medication.â€
Start organizing your medication from day one
Whether you change your medication or are prescribed a new treatment, it is important to fully understand the guidelines to follow before leaving the consultation.
Some of The most important questions to ask your doctor are the following:
- How often should I take it?
- How long will the treatment last?
- Are the pills compatible with the medication I already take?
- What side effects can I expect?
- Are there pharmacological alternatives?
Furthermore, it is important that, when organizing medication and daily life, we take into account the Foods that we should avoid if we are under treatment.
Online Social Security procedures
It is common that, after a diagnosis, we must carry out online procedures with social security.
Procedures as simple as requesting an appointment with Clave Pin (or Cl@ve), can pose a great challenge for certain groups. Older people know this well, and those who take care of their parents end up helping them or doing the paperwork for them.
However, these processes are complicated and difficult to understand. For this, We have prepared a downloadable guide that will help you carry out the procedures more easily.
The most important thing is to understand what procedures you need to carry out.
- A quick query
- A face-to-face management
- Online management
From here, and with our free guide, you can find the steps to follow, and where you can carry out these procedures.
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Your medication organized: From the pharmacy to home
Did you know that with the electronic prescription you can also receive the medication at home?
If you have ever gone to the pharmacy to dispense your prescribed medication, the same pharmacist will have asked for the Health Card instead of the active medication sheet.
Whether you are taking care of an elderly person or organizing your own medication, nowadays it is much more convenient to carry out these types of tasks with the card in hand.
One of the most important and unknown aspects of health card, They help when organizing the medication of the elderly.
In the e-book Do you know everything your electronic prescription allows you to do?, which you can download for free, we will address such important aspects as the following:
- How to use the electronic prescription
- Dispensing in other Autonomous Communities.
- How to organize medication for the elderly and polymedicated people.
If you are interested in downloading this free e-book, click here.
Medication errors that we all make at home
With the new medication in hand, We must make sure to save it in the right place, and take it correctly. When we care for the elderly or family members, we must make it clear to them which is the most appropriate place to organize the weekly first aid kit.
Drugs are usually composed of two main objectives: curing and preventing future diseases. To make it possible, it is important to keep these tips in mind when organizing medication at home. They will help you avoid mistakes as common as taking expired medication, or not being able to swallow the pills due to their size.
- Store medications in a suitable place
- Be careful with expiration dates
- Do not manipulate the medication as you wish
- Actively participate in decision making with your doctor
- Do not follow treatments that have not been prescribed by a healthcare professional
How to organize the medication of a polymedicated patient?
In the previous point we established some of the critical points when storing medication at home. But, What happens when we decide to organize a weekly pill box at home?
Forgetting a daily intake is never a good sign.However, this fact may not be so striking among people who are not used to taking medication.
Un pill box It is an organization system that allows you to save shots by day and time. With it, you can take the medication with you anywhere, and always have it on hand for when you need it.
However, this system can entail some risks, such as leaving drugs out in the open and without packaging.
For this reason, it is advisable to have the SPD method, present in pharmacies for years.
What is an SPD? Your medication organized at no cost
If you haven't heard of SPDs yet, organizing medication for seniors can still be a big challenge. In order to facilitate the care of the elderly, as well as that of oneself, SPD system was launched (also known as Custom Dispensing System).
When we talk about SPD, we refer to the organization of daily doses in a weekly blister or individual envelopes. This preparation is always carried out by specialized pharmacists, making it a safe and practical method when caring for the elderly and dependent people.
The main patients are usually:
- People polymedicated with 5 or more drugs daily
- Chronic patients
- Dependent or elderly people
How to receive organized medication from the pharmacy to your home?
Any polypharmacy patient who is currently completing a treatment prescribed by their doctor can request the organization of pills through the SPD service, although not all of them carry it out.
In fact, many of those that do do it usually pay between €5 and €20 per SPD, making it a product that is out of reach of many patients and pensioners. If you want to receive organized medication, IMA Health collaborates with pharmacies that carry it out free of charge.
For this reason, at IMA Health we offer a service that unifies our two purposes: promoting people's autonomy, and providing resources that help them follow medical treatment more easily.
In this way, more and more patients can count on a quality service, free of charge, and especially designed for them.
IMA Health, a service, with the same trust as always
With the aim of reducing risks when taking medication, IMA Contigo offers a comprehensive service, which facilitates the monitoring of medical treatment.
1. Organization of medication: A pharmacist will prepare the pills that you must take each day.
The medication preparation and delivery service provides a free and simple solution for polymedicated patients. The dispensing of medication and organization of doses will always be carried out by a pharmacist in a pharmacy office.
- You will know if you have taken the medication correctly
- You will avoid possible overdoses by having the prescribed doses
- The shots will always be prepared by a pharmacistÂ
2. Receive medication at home: Ideal for people with reduced mobility.
Each SPD contains the medical treatment doses packaged individually, depending on the day and time they should be taken. That is, if you must take two pills on Monday morning, they will be packaged together.
- You will receive the blisters organized monthly
- You will avoid unnecessary trips
- If you travel you can request a new delivery point
To obtain these services completely free of charge,You can do it through IMA Health, or by calling one of their advisors at 93 271 55 36.
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Disclaimer: At IMA we offer advice and information about our products. Consult with an expert before making any decision that may affectÂ