For those of us who take medication daily, this has become a routine. We see this as a non-life-threatening duty to remain healthy. Often we get into the habit of taking them as second nature without reading the label as we have done this numerous times.
The question posed is, how do we know we are taking our medications correctly as prescribed? If we think we are doing it properly, there is no one to challenge our medication routine. In a recent study, the average number of medications taken per person was 9.9. This is not a monumental amount of pills. The average age of people studied was 72.4 years of age with 60.8% being female. A recent worsening of health status was seen in 27.0% of the patients and 25.0% of the patients experienced an adverse drug-related event over the preceding 3 months. This is a monumental amount of individuals at risk and one of them could be you or someone you love. In addition, recent adverse drug-related events may have contributed to worsened health status. This is alarming to find. Performing our daily routine of medication and unknowingly managing it poorly can have serious consequences, even death.
Continued poor management of medications can lead to encephalopathy. Encephalopathy is a general term that means brain disease, damage, or malfunction. The major symptom of encephalopathy is an altered mental state. The causes of encephalopathy are numerous and varied; they include infections, anoxia, metabolic problems, toxins, drugs, physiologic changes, trauma, and other causes. All this occurs without your awareness. Please note, that drugs refer to not only illegal drugs but also prescription.
One of the most common place excuses is denial. We are in denial of any cognitive decline. Cognitive decline is normal as we age. The brain's overall size begins to shrink when you're in your 30s or 40s, and the rate of shrinkage increases once you reach age 60. Brain shrinkage doesn't happen to all areas of the brain at once. Some areas shrink more and faster than others, and brain shrinkage is likely to get more severe as you get older. Now, how can we determine if someone may need help with medication management?
There is an assessment available to determine the accuracy of your medication management skills, a pillbox assessment. You can perform this in the comfort of your own home to yourself or someone you love to decrease the risk of injury. Failure of the test is not the end of your life here. Failing to take your medications appropriately, maybe. There are alternatives to allow you to live as independently as possible and manage your medication program. Perhaps a family member can come weekly or even monthly to place meds in a med minder or multiple med minders. There are many options available, even automatic timed dispensers that will dispense for an entire month!
The Pillbox Self-Assessment comes with a 7-day 4 times daily medication minder, 5 bottles of faux medication with written directives on each bottle, an instruction sheet, and a sealed answer key. The monies used for your peace of mind are at a significantly lower cost than hospitalization, in-patient rehabilitation, or having to leave your home due to an adverse drug-related event. Identifying a potential problem before it escalates demonstrates your maturity and ability to make rational decisions to live as independently as possible!
Please visit our store for a home kit to identify multiple areas needed to attend to medication management, such as the ability to read the smaller print, and accurately follow your doctor's prescribed dosages and frequencies. All major credit cards are accepted. Please reach out via email at hiddenearthwellness@gmail.com or telephone at (734) 341-4352 to keep in step with living as independently as possible.
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