Home Care Fairfax County South, VA provides elder home care and senior care in Fairfax, Alexandria, Burke, Springfield, Annandale, Fairfax Station, Lorton, Mt. Vernon and Fort Belvoir. Call us today at 703.750.6644. 

When weighing the factors of home care in Annandale versus moving to an Assisted Living facility; a major concern for adult children is the medication quagmire.  It’s worrisome for adult children wondering if parents are taking prescribed meds correctly or if at all!  If you are concerned about your aging parent and they live in Annandale, VA, please contact us, Home Instead in Fairfax County for extraordinary elderly services. 

Those worries stem from:

• Are they taking the prescribed medications?
• Are they taking them at the time prescribed and with or without food?
• Does my loved one take the right dosage?
• Are my aging parents worried about the costs of the meds?  If so, will they stop because of financial reasons?

Here’s a story that we hear often at Home Instead Annandale from family members.  “When visiting my 86 year old mom, I see bottles of medication on the kitchen counter, on the bathroom counter and on his nightstand. It makes me worry about how he is keeping all of her medications organized?

What to ask?

We recommend using good humor and, in this situation, assume that she is keeping them organized and straight.  We suggest taking the innocent until proven guilty approach.  Although you may have very good reasons why some of her prescribed medications are in the kitchen – she’s taking them with food, while others are on the nightstand – she’s taking them before bed.

Pointing to a bottle and asking, “How the world do you keep all these pills straight, Mom?” would be a good conversation starter. If the response includes the reasons you suspected above, then it sounds like things are under control. If she says, “I don’t know. I do my best. I’m not even sure what some of them are,” then the situation needs more attention.

So if she’s having a problem, talk to your mom about a pill organizer, which could help her keep the medications better organized: “Mom, there are organizers that can help you keep all your pills in one place and make it easier for you to keep them straight. Why don’t I check into it?” In addition, one service that Home Instead CAREGivers provide seniors is medication reminders to assist them in managing their daily medications.  

We’d like to hear your medication solutions for aging parents.  Please tell us in the comments below.