How Seniors Can Remain Safe at Assisted Living While Taking Medication

September 19, 2023 by ·
Medication Safety: Assisted Living Chickasaw AL

Medication Safety: Assisted Living Chickasaw AL

Assisted living is one of the best elder care choices seniors can make, especially when they are dealing with increased medical or physical challenges. A quality assisted living community provides experienced staff, other seniors who are dealing with many similar challenges, companionship, and comfort.

Assisted Living

Too many Americans simply don’t know enough about assisted living and barely ever consider it for their elder care. Now, though, in these days, seniors are taking more and more prescription medications, on average. Sometimes, seniors are constantly shifting medications as their doctor prescribes new types and have to make sure they don’t interfere with other types of medications used to treat different symptoms.

Before you know it, you could have 10 or 20 or 30 pills or other types of medications to take every day. When an aging senior is at assisted living, it’s not always easy to keep track of these things. That’s especially true when the medications keep changing.

How Does Assisted Living Keep Seniors Safe

They will have trained and certified/licensed medical professionals on staff, either individuals who are certified to administer medications or nurses that can help residents with these challenging times.

Seniors also need to be participants in their safety, so between the two, an aging senior can be safer at assisted living than at home alone, so long as certain conditions are kept in place.

Seniors Should Know What They’re Taking

This doesn’t mean they’re going to understand the origins, the research, or even all of the potential side effects of every single prescription medication they are taking, but they should have a general idea what they’re taking and what it’s for.

It might be overwhelming for some people to keep track of all this, which is why it would be a good idea to have some of this basic information, at the very least, written down where they can review it, should they feel the need.

Everyone Should Understand The Various Side Effects and Risks

That includes the senior and any staff members who might be dealing with these medications. Again, it’s not possible for one person to know every possible side effect of every prescription medication, but trained professionals know where to look if they have any questions.

Plus, at a quality assisted living community, staff would likely notify the senior’s doctor if they recognize certain symptoms and are concerned it might be caused by one of the prescription medications he or she is taking.

A Trained Professional Should Assisted When Necessary

Often, family and friends help their aging parents or other loved ones with their medications. They simply don’t realize it’s against the law to do this. Only the person whose name is on a prescription bottle is allowed to legally touch that medication, aside from a trained and licensed medical professional.

The reason why involves a host of potential safety hazards that come from drug interactions, side effects, and mistakes. At a quality assisted living community, trained professional staff can help reduce the risk of mistakes when it comes to prescriptions.

If you or an aging loved one are considering a move to Assisted Living in Chickasaw, AL, contact Ashbury Manor Specialty Care and Assisted Living at 251-317-3017.

Filed Under: Assisted Living, Assisted Living Chickasaw AL, Senior Safety · Tagged: , , , ,
About Cindy Johnson

Ashbury Manor’s Administrator since 2008, Cindy Johnson is a long-time expert in the assisted living field. Prior to her arrival at Ashbury Manor, Cindy managed acquisitions and crisis management for existing and new larger senior care project developments for eleven years. As regional manager for an Oregon-based assisted living management company, Cindy was directly responsible for operations for five 50-65 bed assisted living facilities. As manager during the transition to new ownership, Cindy reorganized internal operations and conducted leadership training for Executive Directors. As a result of her management and expertise, one of the company’s facilities (in Ocala, Florida) received a deficiency-free survey, resulting in the lifting of a moratorium on operation.

A nurse for 36 years, senior care has always been Cindy’s passion. Desiring to work more closely with residents, Cindy became a Category II Administrator in 2005. As Ashbury Manor’s Administrator, Cindy understands the complexities associated with dementia and cognitive impairment and she has fallen in love with seniors with dementia or cognitive impairment and their families.

Cindy is Treasurer of the local “Senior Coalition” chapter. She enjoys mentoring new candidates who want to become administrators.

As a 16-bed facility, with Cindy's training and experience, our residents and their families can be sure Ashbury Manor’s carefully selected staff provides the expertise of a larger facility while maintaining the individualized personal care of a small special needs home.
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