If your parent has trouble keeping track of medications, consider investing in an automated medication dispenser. Costing about $200 to $1,000, these locked devices automatically dispense pills at preprogrammed times. When it's time for your parent to take a dose, the device will remind him with an audible alarm and flashing light. Some dispensers enable you to track your parent's medication schedule online, while others contact you when a dose isn't dispensed properly.
To view some of the available dispensers, visit Techforltc.org.
- Senior Living Directory
- Caregiving at Home
- Area Agency On Aging
- Blog: Dad Has Dementia
- Geriatric Care Managers
- Home Care Help
- Home Health Agencies
- Medicare Information Finder
- State-by-State Driving Laws
- Blog: Tech-Savvy Daughter
- Caregiver Community
- Ask & Answer
- Aging in Place
- Find In-Home Care
- Home Care Safety
- Meals & Nutrition
- Adult Day Care
- Difficult Conversations
- Managing Difficult Behaviors
- Driving & Transportation
- End Of Life
- Managing Medications
- Paying for Care
- Preparing for Home Care
- Senior Home Remodeling
- See All In-Home Care
- Health A-Z
- Money & Legal
- Caregiver Wellness
- My Caring
IMHO- Before investing $200-$1000 for a medication dispenser system that may or may not work, here's an alternative that is more in tune with what senior's have been doing for years. Someone has to fill the compartments anyway; and for a lot less money, you can use the little 7-day plastic pill boxes, which most people use now. Couple those pillboxes with an automated phone call to remind the parent when it's time to take their medicine and often this is all that's needed. An automated phone call service only runs about $10 to $30/month and there's a very good one at http://www.oncellrx.com