35% of people over the age of 75 take 3 or more prescriptions, making medication mix-ups, like taking too many pills, not enough pills, or the wrong pills altogether, a common occurrence. One way to help reduce these mix-ups is by using a pill organizer. You’ve probably seen many different kind of organizers in your local pharmacy, but which one is right for you or your loved one?
To select the best pill organizer, you need to find one that addresses the users needs.
For people with poor manual dexterity, an easy-open organizer would be best, so select one with a pop-up or flip-up lid. Also, look for organizers with large containers, which make it easier to load and retrieve pills.
For people will memory loss or difficulty remembering, it can be very easy to forget complicated medication regimens. The best organizers for this situation would be one that can hold a week’s worth of medication in either single or multi-dose compartments. There are even programmable pill organizers that use visual or auditory cues to help remind when to take each medication.
For people with vision limitations it can be difficult to differentiate pills of similar size, shape and/or color. Clear containers are usually best, as it is very easy to see the pills inside. Also consider organizers with space for labeling each medication, which makes it very easy to understand which pill goes where.
The benefit of a pill organizer only works if it fits the needs of the user. So make sure to identify which pill organizers will work for you or your loved one before going out and buying one.