What do we need to know about senior medication safety?
Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner Elaine Scott discusses geriatric health concerns. Click play to watch the video or read the video transcript.
There are many simple steps seniors can take to make sure they are safely managing the medications they take.
Medication Safety Tips
Here are a few medication safety tips:
- Keep a list of your medication names, dosages and why you’re taking them. Keep a copy at home and another copy in your wallet so you will have it if you go to the hospital or the doctor’s office. This will help you avoid possible bad drug interactions or overdoses.
- Bring all your bottles of medications to your doctor’s visit so your doctor can see exactly what you are taking and reevaluate where needed. This is especially important if you have a variety of medications prescribed by more than one doctor.
- Know the possible risk factors and side effects of over-the-counter pain medication. These risk factors include kidney problems, blood pressure problems and stomach bleeding.
- Keep track of which medications to take and when. Don’t be embarrassed if you need to short your medications by day or time of day, or if it helps to set a timer on your phone to make sure you are taking all the right medicines at the right times. Better to be prepared than to take too much or too little of a medication you need.
For more information about medication safety for seniors, talk with your physician at your next appointment.
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