Five Tips for Helping Your Senior with Her Medication
Home Health Care in Westfield
Medication can be a tricky task for your senior. Home health care professionals make this task easier and help your elderly family member adhere to her medication protocols. There are other ways to make this task easier, so choose what works best in your elderly family member’s situation.
Talk to Your Senior about How She Feels
You and your senior should discuss how her medication helps her, how she feels when taking it, and what side effects she experiences. If you don’t know how your elderly family member takes her medications, now is the time to learn. Part of the problem might be that she’s not keeping up with her medication, which means you need a better plan.
Set up a Reminder System That Works for Your Senior
For some people, reminders work fantastically with medication adherence. But there might be more to it for your aging family member. Home health care professionals can help your senior take medications properly and on time. The more closely she adheres to her medication plan, the better it will help your senior.
Keep Records of What Your Senior Is Taking
Keep updated records of your aging family member’s medications and associated details. What are her side effects? Are there other concerns she has about her medications? Any new symptoms and detailed information about her medications’ impact are important to share with her doctor. Likewise, keep a full medication list, along with the strengths of each medication. As her prescriptions change, keep the list updated.
Schedule Medication Reviews Regularly
Undeniably, medication reviews are done with your senior’s doctor to determine how her prescriptions are interacting with each other and how they’re affecting her. These reviews are a good idea to schedule periodically so as to stay on top of what’s happening if changes need to be made. Home health care professionals can help you keep the records that make these reviews even easier.
Stick with What Works for Your Senior
Certain systems for medication management will work better for your elderly family member than others. If the scenario you have in place is helping her, stick with it as long as that is the case. When you notice that medication adherence is changing or there are other signs that your senior’s medication routine isn’t working for her, it’s time to try something a little different to get things back on track.
It’s important not to take shortcuts about your senior’s medications. They’re an important part of helping her manage her health as well as she can.
If you or an aging loved one are considering Home Health Care in Westfield, IN, please call the caring staff at Home Services Unlimited. Serving the Greater Indianapolis Area. Call for Immediate Info & Assistance: (317) 471-0760.
As a practicing Registered Nurse, Etelka was keenly aware of a void in quality patient care that could be provided in the home. She embarked upon a journey to develop a home health care agency that would exceed all expectations and become a trusted partner to physicians and patients.
A Distinguished Career From Nurse to Director of Nursing to President of Home Services Unlimited
Etelka’s distinguished career followed a logical progression to her position as President of Home Services Unlimited. She graduated as a nurse practitioner with a Bachelor of Nursing (RN) in 1972 from Meshgorya University in the Ukraine, close to where she lived with her family. She married her husband Phil in 1973 and decided in 1977 that they would relocate to the United States to be closer to family and to come to this land of opportunity. With an eagerness to continue her budding career, Etelka sat for and passed her Boards in the U.S. in 1979.
A Love and Talent for Working with the Elderly
Etelka began her nursing career in the U.S. at Colonial Crest, now part of Golden Living, where she was the In-service Coordinator, the Director of Training and Education and Director of Nursing, a position she occupied for several years.
With a group of partners, she co-founded Adept Corporation, which operated group homes for the mentally challenged. The business was successful and in 1996, Etelka sold her share to return to her roots, caring for the elderly.
In January of 1997, Etelka opened Home Services Unlimited as a fully licensed business to provide home health care. In her quest to learn to do better for her patients, she had already obtained a Masters in Healthcare Administration (MHA) in May of 1990 from the College of St. Francis. As President of Home Services Unlimited, Inc., Etelka guides the trusted, experienced care model Home Services Unlimited uses to continue providing excellent home health care.
Giving Back to the Community of Indianapolis
Volunteering for community services is a high priority for Etelka. Her memberships include the Indiana Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, Executive Women in Health Care and the Indiana Association for Home and Hospice Care, where she is a member of the Board of Directors.
Etelka has also served on the Board of Directors with Hooverwood Home, a highly regarded geriatric facility, since 1997 and as the President for 2005-2006. Through her community work, she has received several awards and accolades, including the Nora McFarland award in 2002, from the Indiana Association of Home and Hospice Care.
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