Medication adherence means following your healthcare provider’s instructions on when and how to take your prescribed medication.
Many people mistakenly assume that it doesn’t matter when and how they take their medication as long as it gets inside their body. But there are 3 important reasons why your doctor or pharmacist tells you to take your medicines at a particular time, and whether you should take them with or without food.
What happens when you don’t practice medication adherence
Medication non-adherence, or not taking your medicines according to instructions, can cause your health conditions to worsen. This may lead to:
- More doctor visits
- An increased risk of hospitalization
- Lower quality of life
- More danger of comorbidity or developing another illness
I want to be responsible about taking my medicines, but I just forget!
Memory does deteriorate with age, so it is understandable that you might forget when and how to take your medicines. This becomes harder if you have comorbidity (suffer from multiple ailments at the same time) and need to take several medications for each health condition.
On the other hand, forgetfulness and comorbidity mean it’s more important than ever to develop a medication adherence routine as early as possible.
Easy Steps to Creating a Medication Adherence Routine
Creating a medication adherence routine is mostly a matter of planning, organization, and a little discipline. You may have to push yourself in the beginning, but in a few weeks it’ll become a habit and all the more easier to follow.
- Set up a medication station
Designate one place for all your medicines and related items such as dosage spoons, glucose meters and testing strips, spare syringes, pill cutters, etc.
This space must be always visible and accessible to you, but it should be out of reach of small children and/or pets. It can be your bathroom cabinet, a shelf in your kitchen, or the top of a dresser.
- Use labeled containers for instant identification
If you’re juggling multiple health issues, maintain a separate labeled box for each concern — one for heart health, one for allergies, and so on.
Your storage system can be a set of matching kitchen containers or a tabletop chest of drawers. Each health condition gets its own box for storing medicines. Store instructions along with the medicines just in case you need to refer to them later.
Note
Some medications, such as insulin for diabetes, must be stored in a refrigerator. You can put a note in the box labeled ‘Diabetes’ on your medication station as a reminder.
- Hang up a chart
A basic dry-erase board is perfect for listing what medicines you need to take, in what amount, and at what time. Or you can print out a weekly schedule and fill it out. Hang your board or printout near your medication station. Keep a clock beside it to crosscheck time quickly and easily.
- Sort out tomorrow’s medication tonight
Get into the habit of preparing your pill box in advance. There are many kinds of pill organizers to choose from — daily, weekly, twice a day — and you can pick the one that best suits your needs.
If you choose to prepare a daily pill organizer, your last task before going to bed should be to fill the organizer with all the medications you will need the next day.
Medication adherence for long-term benefits
Medication adherence can be very helpful for your long-term well-being, especially for the management of chronic conditions. It may slow down disease progression, prevent hospital visits, and lower your risk of developing additional conditions.
If you’re unsure of anything, if prescription instructions are unclear, or if you need any sort of medication-related advice, ask your healthcare provider and they will be happy to help.