My Grandmother lives with my Mother & I, and she is very independent. However she's always dropping pills on the floor because she can't see them, but she also refuses to let us help. Is there anything I can do to prevent her from dropping her pills and forgetting them? If I find them on the floor she refuses to take it and says "Must've been from last night". Maybe those white paper cups they use at hospitals (or ketchup holders lol)? She also refuses to have an AM/PM pill organizer which I think would help her, especially with the white cup idea.
Setting her pills on a tray may also help so that any fumbled pills will land there instead of on the floor.
And she may be refusing to use the pill organizer, because it may confuse her. When there is cognitive decline, it's really not possible for them to learn new things. The pill organizer may be just too overwhelming for her.
Sometimes, depending on the condition that is causing the problem, it's just up to the caregiver to supervise them taking their meds. We may not be able to rely on them to remember or do it correctly, nor to correctly report what they took. Is there someone available to do that? There is also the danger that they forget what they took and take too much medication.
As for the AM/PM pill organizer, as great as they are, your Grandmother will still drop the pills and claim they were from yesterday.... [sigh]. Hopefully there are no pets in the house that would get into those dropped pills.
I took a "seal-a-meal" type food saver and made a large bag then turned it sideways and sealed long pockets. Then I pushed each days worth of pills down the sealed "tube" and when they were filled all the way across I sealed that then continued with the next row. Time consuming but I got 4 weeks worth of pills done and did not have to worry about doing it again for a month. I do not know what the pharmacy would charge to do the blister packs or if it would be covered by insurance.
Another option would be the little snack size zip top bags. They are smaller than the sandwich size.
I would be concerned about leaving pills in a little cup for several reasons.
Humidity is not good for some.
Light is not good for some medications.
The cats could fine little pills in a cup irresistible, for some reason my cats live to stick their paws into cups and bowls to play with whatever is there.
And the little cups are easy to tip over.
Now, to say he's 100% compliant is not true, as the MOST IMPORTANT drug he takes (his antirejection med) is so tiny--and it's the kind of capsule that gets "staticky" and he will often drop it as he throws back the mouthful of pills. I'll find those little buggers everywhere. Thank goodness I clean a lot---I have 13 grandkids and so far, they have all been great about bringing me pills if they find them.
As "independent" as Gramma wants to be, she needs help in this dept. Someone has to step up and have the "talk" with her that she needs a little help with the meds. If you separate them out in small packages, labeled and she can open the container and take them on time, great, she's still independent! If you HAVE to, get the little white cups and "administer" them, the way the hospital does. Stand there and watch her take them, but chit chat with her--don't make it a "I'm making you do this" kind of a thing.
A side note, that is funny/sad: My FIL was in the last stages of his life and on 3 meds. 2 gave him terrible side effects and he was tired of taking them. I'd go all the way out to his house and give him breakfast, his pills, then go back in the evening for dinner and evening meds. I'd been handing them to him, as he sat in his recliner. Only after he passed and I pulled the recliner out to clean, did I find a huge pile of pills on the floor. It didn't matter at that point, and they weren't keeping him alive, but it gave me a chuckle. I remember thinking "dad, you won. you hated those meds".
In retrospect, even though I GAVE him the pills, I never once watched to see if he actually took them.
When I take the pills out of the bottle, I put them on a dark hand towel. That keeps them from rolling around and the dark towel helps me see the pills.
See All Answers