For those of you who rarely need medications, remembering them may be rather simple. For those of US who take multiple medications each day, remembering may be a lot harder. This is especially true if medication dosage differs by time of day or by frequency.
So, thank you to Olivia DeLong for “9 Easy Ways to Remember to Take Your Meds”:
“Nearly half of Americans took one prescription drug in the past month. And about 12 percent (40 percent over the age of 65) took at least five, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Not to mention, an astounding 50 percent of Americans don’t take their medications as prescribed by their doctors.”
“People take medications for different reasons, including managing health conditions, preventing or slowing disease, relieving symptoms, and more. However, the CDC estimates that failure to keep up with medication regimens contributes to 30 to 50 percent of chronic disease treatment failures and 125,000 deaths per year in the United States.”
“Americans forgo their daily medication routines for many reasons, reports the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including: Forgetfulness. Failure to understand the directions. Numerous medication regimens. Unwanted side effects. Cost. Perception of effectiveness.”
Click the image to read 9 tips from DeLong for better remembering to take medications.
