Informal and family caregivers play an important role in preventing an accidental overdose of prescription medication for loved ones who require care.
Elder overdose accidents are not typically related to addiction behaviors, but rather result from mismanagement of daily prescriptions. We bring this conversation to light, recognizing International Overdose Awareness Day, because managing medications is often typical for informal caregivers of older adults. Caregivers play a significant role in ensuring safe and appropriate medication is delivered to loved ones.
I helped my parents manage their prescriptions, keeping track in spiral notebooks of what they took when and how they physically and emotionally reacted. Some of these notebooks resembled a pharmacology student’s manic scrapbook filled with medication stickers, photocopies of insurance cards, dates, doses, reactions and other fun Rx paperwork needed to keep everyone informed when I was not available.
Older adults are nearly seven times as likely as younger persons to have adverse drug events that require hospitalization and 83% of people over 65 are taking prescription medications.
A National Institutes of Health research report noted that 78% of unpaid caregivers manage medications by prepping pill boxes, administering intravenous fluids and even performing injections. Over half of caregivers administer 5 or more different prescription medications a day, with close to 20% administering 10 or more. With this many medications taken on a regular basis, accidental overdoses are all too common.
According to CDC research, categories of drugs that should be monitored carefully include blood thinners, diabetes treatments, seizure medications and prescription opioids. The CDC reports that adults over 65 years of age visit emergency rooms 450,000 times per year related to an adverse drug event (ADE).
There are numerous ways an older adult can accidentally overdose. Some situations arise as aging progresses and communication becomes more of a challenge, others are based on financial concerns. All of these factors should weigh on medication routine planning.
Overdoses may occur if an elderly patient takes too much of a prescribed medication or mixes the prescription with over-the-counter medicines or alcohol. Crossover reactions are defined by the ingestion of incompatible medications.
Both the caregiver and care recipient play a part in reducing prescription overdose risk by being open, detailed, and specific with health care professionals and pharmacies. Informal caregivers have a unique role to ensure that medications are administered per instructions as well as monitoring any adverse reactions. Medication management should be approached with compassion, diligence, and respect for one's sense of independence.
Caregivers use alarms and pill boxes to manage daily medications. Further, they ensure all medical and personal information is shared with professionals part of the care team. Uploading and storing information such as appointments, medication notes, and documents to the Caregiven mobile app is more than just convenience. Caregiven offers tools and organization meant to reduce stress and feelings of overwhelm which might affect proper medication management.
Creating the master list of my family’s medical records with information such as surgeries, immunizations, allergies and general health history (i.e. diabetes, cancer) was easier with an online template that we could update as necessary. Within the Caregiven mobile app, you'll find a link to the FDA form under Healthcare Related Documents. Once uploaded, this information will be held in a completely secure environment and only available to designated members of your Care Circle.
What to do in the event of accidental overdose in a caregiving situation:
Caregivers, we offer you warm words of encouragement and work every day to build the tools and resources to help you establish your way through the journey with confidence.