Medication dispensers! I help manage my parent’s care from afar. Any tried and true medication dispensers that you’ve been happy with?

Before my father moved in with us we got sone of those plastic sauce containers and labelled them AM PM
etc
and put them into lines for each day labelled
we had to make calls to get into the routine but it worked
failing that I’d speak to their doctor
maybe they shd be getting a nurse or care person coming in to help ?
Check what’s available/steam to local charities

Hello, if possible, you might have someone within your blocks that would not mind...maybe a homemaker who could do 3x per day...maybe there is a CNA that lives close, or a high school senior... maybe the nearby senior center could guide you 🤞

Honestly if they are having problems with predosed blister packs they need to have a caregiver with them.
there are automated dispensers but who is going to fill them properly?
who is still going to make sure they are taking what they are supposed to take?
Do they know to call 911 BEFORE they call you if there is an emergency?
Do they know how to get out of the house in an emergency?
Do they know that the "Gas company" will not want to come into the house to "check the stove, or the meter, or the water heater"?
Do they know the "lady that knocks on the door asking to use the phone cuz her car broke down" is not really a "damsel in distress"?
I think there needs to be a reassessment of their situation maybe this can not be managed from afar.

As other(s) have encouraged, hire a care giver or care manager who can manage medication and assess other needs.

Do not take any risks. It is much more difficult to handle an emergency after the fact - when you (?) need to drop everything and travel to them to coordinate care needs and/or when hospitalization is involved. This is a risk waiting to happen.

Additionally, this appears to put too much pressure on your dad to care for your mom with a declining memory, while he is visually impaired. It isn't fair to him and it isn't safe for either one of them.

Do not wait until something happens.

Please consider these questions:
\
* why hasn't a caregiver been hired?
* do either of your parents have a social worker?
* have you considered hiring a care manager to coordinate their care and work with you?
* Is moving your parents closer to you a possibility?
* How long has this been going on?
* What is your mother's diagnosis ? who is monitoring her cognitive decline - and what her needs are now - and moving forward?

You cannot do what is needed from afar: ongoing assessment / observation.
Preventative care is needed.

It sounds to me like you need a care (or case) manager - to manage their care needs and confer with you as needed on a regular basis.

Gena / Touch Matters

When my mother reached that stage we had to hire an aide to come in for a few hours a day to make sure she not only took her meds but also that they didn’t end up in her cheek and then on the floor. With both parents needing meds there is much more room for mix ups and taking medications that could be dangerous if the wrong person takes them. The aides also helped with other things as well.

I had similar issues, the locking electronic dispenser worked for about 6 months -- didn't spend the money for the HERO, used one like the Medline carousel version -- until she started dispensing the pills as usual by pushing the button but then not taking the pills. So, worth trying, with the understanding that it will in all likelihood be a temporary solution.

All of the humans on this earth started as an embryo, and some have unfortunately passed away as infants, others as children, teens, young adults, and middle age adults.
It is a miracle that any of us survive, with so many things that can take our lives away at any time. So the people who have been blessed to live a longer life, are just as important and deserve to live until it is their time to pass. They deserve to not have a greedy family member waiting for them to hurry up and die, so they can have their money or not have to take care of them.

Every elderly person on this planet was once a toddler. A beautiful toddler, filled with innocence and wonder.

There are so many people who have passed far too soon for them to have enjoyed a full life. Some have died as infants, some have passed giving birth, or during surgery. So many people die from car, boat, plane, train, motorcycle, bicycle, etc… accidents. So many die from a drunk, tired, high, or distracted driver. So many pass from an enormous amount of diseases, like heart disease, cancers, or brain diseases to name only a few. Even a ton of viruses like Covid, or allergies like bee stings or peanut allergies. There is a never ending amount of murder from strangers or even someone in your own family. I could spend hours listing all of the ways we are vulnerable as humans. So please allow the elderly to have respect for making it as far as they have in life. It is a miracle.

We as Americans all enjoy the freedoms of the USA, thanks to the tons of military members who have died to keep us free.
Most of us hate the idea of war, but fights do happen, and these brave service men and women put their lives on the line daily for us. We owe them the respect for willing to fight for US! We owe the families of the fallen hero’s, and the members who have returned wounded. We as a society should never allow them to become homeless or ignored. They deserve to be cared for even when they are elderly. We all need to be grateful for our blessings.

We all enjoy the tons of inventions from smart people every day. Some are older inventors of the automobile, planes, elevators, computers, tv, internet, and some are the inventors of new space industry, new medical procedures or medications. Regardless of the invention, they eventually get old and are not able to care for themselves anymore. We in society, owe it to them to care for themselves anymore until it is their time to pass.

Every job is of value and importance. If you enjoy a clean restroom at the airport, someone worked hard for you to have that.
If you drive on the roadways, many people work hard for you to enjoy the freedom to travel from point A to point B. EVERYTHING YOU ENJOY in your own life, is thanks to many people you never see or meet. They eventually get old, but they deserve respect, and care until it is there time to pass.

I am SO TIRED of reading posts about everyone wanting to live their lives for themselves. They don’t want to take care of anyone else. It is not fair. Even the parents who raised them. Do the right thing and care for each other. Everyone - Everywhere!
We all matter!!! Old or not.

We have just started using Hero for my mother. She is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s so she knows what the alarms are and she is taking her meds. We started this because she forgot a day or two and her BP sky-rocketed. I had been filling her pill boxes weekly. I live locally. So hoping we are in a window of ability that this is a new helpful support before it’s time for a move to assisted living or memory care. She is already on a CCC campus but in the independent living section. But so far so good with Hero.

Agreed with the above. I think you are going to have some eyes on them. It sounds like it's at the point where remote monitoring isn't going to work any more. It's hard for us, as children, to come to that conclusion, and accept it.

Part of it (speaking for myself...) is we are not wanting to change our own lives to deal with their issues, as we know it's not going to be a short term thing, and we're used to the way our lives are now. It's not fair that we have to deal with it. This is very human, I think. We don't expect to have to upend our lives to take care of our parents, but unless they have some kind of plan in place, and most don't, that's quite often what it comes down to.

I had to help my dad, with dementia, and now my mom (who I was never close to) with cancer and altzheimers. There is no way either of them could handle meds on their own. I too found pills all over the place (on the floor, stored by their bed and in the kitchen....). Not sure what I'm going to do when I get older, as I don't have any kids...not that that's any guarantee of assistance, of course.

I guess I'll cross that bridge (or not) when I get to it!

We tried the automated medication dispenser with my aging mother and the only issue we found was she never realized that she dropped some of it. We found several of her small pills on the kitchen floor.

If the reason due to memory nothing works as a long term solution except for a person to give the medicine and ensure they are swallowed or fully administer any injection necessary.

My mother was phenomenal at pocketing her meds in her mouth and then hiding them under pillows or cushions.

With situation as you describe, it would seem parent need to be more closely monitored. Before moving forward, get cinference with their doctor. Itvwould seem they are moving closer to assited living or someone coming in on a regular basis to make sure meds are being taken.

Start with MedMinder and MedReady. Then look at Hero as the more sophisticated alternative.
I’d rank them for your particular family:
1. MedMinder — best overall fit.
Medminder.com
2. MedReady — best simpler/medical-oriented alternative
3. Hero — best technology/user experience, provided your father can comfortably operate it.
And I’d spend the money on remote monitoring and locked dispensing, rather than saving money on a simple alarm organizer.

One final thing: I would have your pharmacist review the actual medication list before purchasing. Some medications have special requirements—refrigeration, liquid formulations, split tablets, “as needed” dosing, medications that shouldn’t be combined, etc.—that can make a particular dispenser inappropriate.

And honestly, your situation is exactly the kind where choosing the right level of automation matters more than choosing the fanciest device. I hope you find something that gives your parents a little more independence while giving your some peace of mind from afar.

Phillips used to have a 10 day dispenser but someone must be able to fill it. I saw it demonstrated years ago when I worked for a VNA. Pills are put in little plastic containers. Times are set and at that time a voice says "time for your meds" and you push the button and out come the pills. The system can be locked so there is no playing with the meds. If tge button is not pushed a call is made to the contact person. This system has probably been upgraded since I worked.

If they can't manage blister packs, they won't handle any other aid that they need to operate or understand.

My in-law POA recently spent about $300 on a fancy medication system/dispenser with timer and alarm to get my in-laws with dementia on track with taking meds on time. Sorry, I don’t know the name of it. It was returned within weeks as they couldn’t process what it was for or how to understand what it was expecting them to do. I hope you find something that will help in your situation

My experience has been that a person with dementia can't really process what the alarm is for, or even which electronic thing in the house the beeping is coming from.

At this point, I suspect that these two will still confuse days and times even if they have a medication dispenser. They may not heed the alarms or know what they are for. The meds can drop right in front of them, and they will have no clue what they are. You could call and ask if they've taken their meds, and they may say they have but haven't. Believe me, this happens. I'm a veteran of caring for both parents, another relative, and my husband.

Please consider assisted living and/or memory care for them. When a patient no longer can manage meds, doctors will recommend that they move to a facility where meds are overseen as part of their care. This is so important because once confusion sets in, patients are in danger of overdosing or underdosing or not dosing at all. All three circumstances can unalive or seriously injure them, and you don't want that!

The only other thing that could help is hiring someone to come to their house and administer the meds, but if they take meds morning, noon, evening and bedtime, that's four visits. You're not likely to find someone reliable enough to do that. I'm mentioning this only because my sister-in-law, an RN, was hired to do this for a neighbor. She wasn't paid very well, and it tied her down because there was no backup if she wanted to be away for a while. She had to stop when she got dementia herself!

I wish you luck with dealing with this.

Hi--Usually at this point, where there's confusion around time, the person's cognitive impairment has reached a point where external cues get ignored. It may be time for a move to assisted living or at least have an aide in to help them manage meds. You need a reliable way to ensure the pill gets into their mouth, not just dispensed. You might be able to set up something with video like an Echo 'Show' with a dispenser, but these short term solutions don't work very well.