How can I help with remembering medication from a long distance?

[Buskitten]

Morning all,

I've had a few texts / emails over the weekend from mums friends and neighbours saying she's in a muddle with her tablets - I know you can get blister packs / boxes with days on but any advice as to how I progress this from a distance? I'm in Scotland, mum's in Herefordshire.

I've arranged for an ot assessment, but it hasn't come through yet. I've also emailed her gp ( friday) regarding this, but not sure what else I can / should be doing.

Any suggestions most welcome, thanks guys

 

[Buskitten]

At Christmas she said there was no problem and I believed her - I'm thinking I need to go there and get her a proper care assessment really

 

[canary]

My mum used to get her medication in blister packs and it was arranged by the GP.
I must say, though that although it worked for a while, when mum got to the stage of not knowing what day it was it no longer worked. Eventually mum needed an actual person there to give her the medication

 

[Izzy]

I think a care assessment is the way forward @Buskitten. If she got he meds in a blister pack a carer to prompt the medication it would give you more peace of mind.

 

[Guzelle]

You can’t do it from a distance and you can’t believe what she tells you! I think you need a cater going in or someone you can trust to give her the tablets. My cousin had a neighbour claim the carer’s allowance for his mother and she called in a few times every day as they didn’t live near enough to keep calling in every day.?

 

[Buskitten]

Thanks very much - I can go down there in two weeks time, i can't really before, as work commitments mean I could only spend a few days there. The more I think about it, the more I think carers are needed but when I speak to her she sounds so plausible

 

[Rosettastone57]

Morning all,

I've had a few texts / emails over the weekend from mums friends and neighbours saying she's in a muddle with her tablets - I know you can get blister packs / boxes with days on but any advice as to how I progress this from a distance? I'm in Scotland, mum's in Herefordshire.

I've arranged for an ot assessment, but it hasn't come through yet. I've also emailed her gp ( friday) regarding this, but not sure what else I can / should be doing.

Any suggestions most welcome, thanks guys

My MIL had the box already made up from the chemist with days and times to take tablets. This worked in the early stages but we used the carers to prompt taking medication. MIL just didn't know what day it was in the end

 

[jugglingmum]

I don't think there is a solution that works except for boxes from the chemist, known as dosette boxes by my mum's carers (I had no idea what they were talking about) and a carer to either prompt or supervise. If a carer is to supervise you will need a locked cupboard in say the kitchen with a code that the carers know.

My mum had always been very on the ball with her tablets, and I realised she wasn't and when she stayed with me I bought the days of the week boxes and got her to make them up, she couldn't! So I did this.

When you are next down there if you go to her regular pharmacist you might be able to organise dossette boxes and regular deliveries to her house.

Organising a carer is harder, but the OT won't do this for you. If you are self funding you will be left to sort everything out for yourself.

Unless the friends/neighbours know of someone who can do this for you you need to sort out care agencies so start researching them now.

Sounding plausible is part of what is referred to as 'hostess mode' on TP, have a search for it, but the PWD can manage to appear OK for a couple of hours to someone they don't see very often or in phone calls, this often takes them a lot of effort and leaves them tired so they get more muddled.

When we visited MIL in the xmas holidays, OH after spending an hour with her said she seems fine, no problems - there were loads of little niggles which with my experience with my mum with dementia were ringing massive alarm bells, and I was thinking hostess mode.

If friends and neighbours are contacting you this means there are serious issues with a flashing red light attached.

 

[Buskitten]

I don't think there is a solution that works except for boxes from the chemist, known as dosette boxes by my mum's carers (I had no idea what they were talking about) and a carer to either prompt or supervise. If a carer is to supervise you will need a locked cupboard in say the kitchen with a code that the carers know.

My mum had always been very on the ball with her tablets, and I realised she wasn't and when she stayed with me I bought the days of the week boxes and got her to make them up, she couldn't! So I did this.

When you are next down there if you go to her regular pharmacist you might be able to organise dossette boxes and regular deliveries to her house.

Organising a carer is harder, but the OT won't do this for you. If you are self funding you will be left to sort everything out for yourself.

Unless the friends/neighbours know of someone who can do this for you you need to sort out care agencies so start researching them now.

Sounding plausible is part of what is referred to as 'hostess mode' on TP, have a search for it, but the PWD can manage to appear OK for a couple of hours to someone they don't see very often or in phone calls, this often takes them a lot of effort and leaves them tired so they get more muddled.

When we visited MIL in the xmas holidays, OH after spending an hour with her said she seems fine, no problems - there were loads of little niggles which with my experience with my mum with dementia were ringing massive alarm bells, and I was thinking hostess mode.

If friends and neighbours are contacting you this means there are serious issues with a flashing red light attached.

Wow, juggling mum hostess mode? Ok I'll look for it - that sounds right her behaviour is almost normal if you don't know her

 

[Buskitten]

Wow, juggling mum hostess mode? Ok I'll look for it - that sounds right her behaviour is almost normal if you don't know her

So do they know something's wrong and they are trying to cover it up?

 

[canary]

So do they know something's wrong and they are trying to cover it up?

I dont know. Mum used to do "hostess mode" and could appear normal for short periods of time almost up until her death and she was totally convimced that she had nothing wrong with her. OH has now started with "host mode", but he is not aware of the extent f his problems.
It seems to me to be a sort of subconscious reaction, neither mum nor OH were aware that it was happening.