A pill organizer is an efficient way for people to ensure that they take their right medicines at the right time. This is especially so, for the seniors, and their caretakers. Most aged people need to take regular medicines for diabetes, blood pressure, heart issues, arthritis, vertigo, etc. A few of these tablets are before food, a few after food, and they may also be spread across the day and night. Even if one sets reminders to take the tablets, one may still miss out on taking the tablets.
Also, many aged people find it tough to read the prescriptions and take out the right medicines and the doses themselves. There have been occasions when people have taken the wrong medicines or the wrong doses or even missed taking medicines, etc., leading to serious consequences. To avoid all such unnecessary complications, a medicine pill organizer may be used.
What you should know
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The pill organizer comes in various sizes; some can hold medicines for a day, some for a week, and some even for a fortnight or a month. It depends on the nature of the medicines being taken. Ideally, it is not good to keep opened tablets and capsules for more than a week. Some medicines interact with each other when opened and stored together as well. Hence, as a first step, before using the pill organizer, please discuss this with your doctor to understand the implications of the above scenarios.
Once the doctor confirms that you could use the pill organizer to organise the tablets for a particular duration, say a week or so, and then you can remove the pills and arrange them neatly. Most pill organizers come with a four to five compartments for a seven-day week schedule. So, you will have compartments for morning, noon, evening, and night for each day. In these, you may also have colour coded separations for before and after food. Again, the pillbox’s choice is based on the individual’s need and hence, it is always better to go for the simplest one as per need.
Unnecessary boxes may also lead to confusion among the people consuming the pills. Ideally, not more than a week’s tabs should be placed in the boxes. Some organizers also have one compartment for extra pills. This is just when someone falls sick and needs to take some extra tabs like antibiotics for a week or so.
How to arrange pills in the organizer?
Before you start using a pill organizer, check your tablets’ size to ensure that the containers can hold them. Once purchased, keep the prescription handy to refer to the medicines prescribed for the day/week/month. Remember that few medicines may need to be taken only once a week or month.
Please wash your hands and ensure that they are dry. Then remove each pill or tablet and start storing the same in the pill organiser’s respective compartment. Go by the day as it is easier to ensure that all medicines are covered. Once done, proceed to the next day and so on, for the complete week. It is better to cross-check once after the week’s schedule is filled. This is to ensure that no tab is missing, misplaced, or kept in wrong doses, etc. It is also better to describe the pill organizer to the person consuming the tablets if they are up to it. They should also be informed to raise the alarm if any pill has changed colour, or a tablet has leaked etc. It may not be possible; hence, it is also best for caretakers to check the pill organizer to double-check that the pills are being taken on time. The organizer will save time referring to the prescription and taking out the pills each time. Kindly ensure that the pill organizer compartment is clean and dust-free and it is stored at requisite temperature to ensure proper use.
The best use
For most people, having a pill organizer may solve their problem of ensuring that they take all medicines at the right time. However, if you are forgetful, you may also resort to technology use by using an app to provide reminders to take the pills. A reminder to do the organiser’s weekly refill is also helpful to ensure that you don’t miss any doses whatsoever.
