Tips for Encouraging Medication Compliance in a Senior Who Has Suffered a Heart Attack

Posted: 12/22/2017 10:00 AM by Interim HealthCare

Being a family caregiver means fulfilling your parent's needs, supporting their health and well-being, and taking steps on a daily basis to help support the highest quality of life possible as your parent ages in place. A major part of this is helping them through medical issues and ensuring that they are doing what they need to do to properly care for themselves and effectively receive care from you and their medical team after they experience such medical issues. One way that you do this is through encouraging medication compliance. When a senior suffers a medical issue such as a heart attack and the doctor prescribes medications, treatments, and lifestyle guidelines for them, the only way for your parent to get the most benefit is through following those exactly how they were presented. This is referred to as medication compliance.

Some ways that you can encourage medication compliance include:

Start home care for your parent so that they have access to a care provider who will give them medication reminders and offer support in making good lifestyle choices.
Make sure that your parent understands the instructions that were given to them so that they are able to follow them effectively.
Talk to your parent about the importance of compliance. Make sure that they understand that these are not just suggestions, but rather that the doctor made these guidelines for specific reasons and the only way to get the benefit is through compliance.
Create a schedule that outlines when and how your parent is to take each medication or follow through with each treatment or lifestyle recommendation. This can be particularly helpful if they take several medications and need to keep them straight.
Participate in elements of the lifestyle guidelines with them. For example, prepare and eat healthy meals with them or find a type of exercise that you both enjoy and use it as a means of spending quality time together on a regular basis. This can keep them motivated and help them feel less like they are on this journey alone.

Being a family caregiver for your aging parent can be extremely challenging and stressful, but fortunately home care can help. An in-home care provider can step in to fill care gaps, provide supervision and care when you are not able to be with your parent, and offer companionship and support to encourage the highest quality of life possible as they age in place. These services can include safe and reliable transportation to ensure that your parent can go where they need and want to go without having to wait for you, physical support and assistance for mobility issues, help with activities of daily living and personal care requirements, and companionship that will boost your parent's activity level and mental and emotional health as they age in place. Knowing your parent will have consistent access to this care will relieve your stress and ensure that you are able to focus your energy, attention, and resources in the way that is most effective and efficient.

Learn more about specialized home care.