Question from Caring.com Community Member, Reagan229
My mother keeps forgetting her medication, and keeps falling because of it. What is there out there to help remind her?
Expert Answer by Ann Cason
Ann Cason consults with and trains families, caregivers, and public and private organizations concerned with eldercare issues. She is the author of Circles of Care: How to Set Up Quality Home Care for Our Elders.
Frequent falls are a signal. Something is not right in the environment. So many of us are too proud to ask for help. Some of us send a signal.
Consider each fall as an sos. Help! Help! What should you look for? Is it the body? Is it the house itself. Is it some problem with communication? Or is it the mind.
In your mother's case, it appears to be the mind. She cannot remember to take medication that helps. You could call her each day to remind her. If that does not work, perhaps she is rebellious and does not want to be helped.
In either case, your mother needs more assessment about the difficulty. But it is also important not to panic. Even if it is a problem with her memory or with self destructive tendencies, it may be possible to get daily care for her----two hours a day-----with in her own home so that she does not have to make a major move into assissted living where medication is administered by professionals.
Thank you for asking this question. Don't hesitate to write back with more information. It could just be that your mother wants to hear from you. She might just want to know that you are there for her. Maybe she will come to trust that what you provide in the way of support is your way of caring. It can be done.
Answer
answered:
We found the answer with a product called Responselink which is a Personal Emergency Response System that has built in Medication reminders and can even be set up where an operator will call mom and talk with her while she takes her medication, It can also have a medication dispenser set up with the box that if she does net open it when the alarm goes of It will notify the operator. This machine has solved the problem on both sides( her medication and her falling ) at an affordable price, It has worked out great! We found it on the web at Responselink.com
