Medical Management Tips for seniors – A List of Dos and Don’ts

 

Worried because your senior is suffering from major health issues? See, age-related health problems are the inevitable results of becoming older, and as such we cannot do much about them. But, what we can do is controlling the symptoms and discomfort of our seniors with dedicated care and support. In this connection, the importance of proper medical management needs to be highlighted. Not only is the supervision necessary for keeping your senior healthy, but monitoring the time, dose, and frequency of medicine intake is also crucial to avoid medical hazards. Even if you keep busy, you can hire an expert on home care services in Croydon to take care of senior’s needs. But, ensuring medical management is important at all cost. So, let us go through a list of dos and don’ts about it.

 

What Should You Do?

 

Understand side effects – Certain medications may induce certain types of side effects. If the physician has already warned of some side effects in advance, you must watch out for such health issues in seniors. Do not delay in informing the physician should you see your senior suffering from side-effects. The doctor might stop that medication and suggest some other safer drugs in its replacement.

 

Check how to be taken – While some medicines have to be taken in an empty stomach, others need to be taken along with food or after meals. So, you must check how and when your senior has to take his medicine. To be on guard, you may consider hiring a home care provider who can cook nutritious food, give medicines, and keep your senior healthy.

 

Set reminders – If your senior is independent and responsible, then you can let him manage his medicines. But when he is taking multiple medications, you should set reminders in the calendar or mobile so that he or she does not miss the medicine timings. Having that said, we still stress that you should oversee whether or not your senior is taking medicines daily and diligently. As a son or daughter, it is, after all, your responsibility.

 

What Should You Not Do?

 

Do not let dementia patients handle their medicines – Is your senior suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s? In that case, you should not let your elderly manage his medicines alone. Being forgetful, such patients may miss their medicines no matter how many reminders you set for them. Or worse, they may end up taking more medicines than what has been prescribed. In such cases, chances of health hazards may increase.

 

Do not store old drugs – Always check the expiry date before administering any medicine to your senior. Accidently or not, taking expired drugs can cause severe health complications and even prove to be fatal for your senior. So, dispose of expired drugs if you find any in the container or the medicine piles.

 

Do not encourage self-prescription – To get rid of discomfort or pain, senior might feel tempted to increase the dose of an existing medicine or simply take another over-the-counter medicine. However, you must never encourage such a practise. Not aware of drug interactions and side-effects, your elderly may fall ill by trying to self-medicate. If your senior is not improving, you should let the doctor know about it.

 

Wrapping it up – Should you be worried about your seniors’ health and weaknesses, you must simply hire a day and night care expert. From medicine management to domestic support and respite care, a trained professional can keep your senior both happy and healthy. To engage dedicated senior care services, you may contact Priory Care Services today!