Many of the elderly need medication to treat diseases or illnesses that they have contracted due to having weaker bodies. Unfortunately, most seniors don’t have the mental and physical capacity to take different pills, tablets, and other forms of medication during certain hours or days, so they would need the help of a caregiver or loved one to monitor the medications they take.
If there are many medications involved in the treatment of a patient’s disease or disorder, then it would also be confusing for the caregiver to determine which specific pills or tablets the patient needs to take for the day. Fortunately, there is an organizer that can help caregivers sort out medications that their patients need to take daily and weekly. This organizer is called the safety medication dispenser, and in this article, we will talk about its features and its benefits.
What are Safety Medication Dispensers?
Safety medication dispensers are organizers that are made of plastic or metal and are specifically used to store and organize pills, tablets, capsules, and other types of medications. Inside the safety medication dispenser, there are usually dividers that separate medications based on the day that they need to be taken or consumed. For example, there is a section on the dispenser that contains medications that are taken on Mondays, while there is also a section that has pills or tablets for Fridays. Besides the dividers, the safety medication dispenser may also have smaller boxes inside that do a better job of securing the medications.
What are the Different Types of Safety Medication Dispensers?
There are two types of safety medication dispensers that are available in stores. Here are the things you need to know about these two types so that you will have a better idea of what to buy.
Standard Medication Dispenser
The standard medication dispenser has standard dividers or boxes inside that can separate medications for specific days of the week. In addition to days, the standard medication dispenser can also separate pills or tablets based on the time of day, like AM and PM. There are standard medication dispensers that have separate lids for each box or divider, while there are also dispensers that have just one big lid.
The advantage of the standard medication dispenser is that it is inexpensive, so you can easily buy it online or in physical stores. However, this type of dispenser can sometimes be flimsy, so it may not be as durable as the other type of safety medication dispenser. But, if you are on a tight budget, the standard medication dispenser would still be a great choice because of how helpful it is in dividing and organizing medications.
Automatic Medication Dispenser
The automatic medication dispenser has a timer and alarm that is displayed through an LCD screen in the middle of the dispenser. The timer and alarm can then be used to let a caregiver know when it is time to give the patient medicine. The alarm can be set at a specific time, as the dispenser has an internal clock that keeps track of the time during the day.
What’s great about most automatic medication dispenser is that it has a lock that can only open when it is time to give medication to the patient. So, the dispenser cannot be opened by anyone besides the caregiver that sets the timer and alarm. The only downside to getting the automatic medication dispenser is its price, as it is pricier compared to the standard dispenser. However, the automatic medication dispenser is safer and more convenient to use because of its timer and lock features.
What are the Benefits of Safety Medication Dispensers?
Safety medication dispensers have a few benefits, and these benefits are attributed to how effective they are in organizing medications for patients. Here are descriptions of the benefits of using safety medication dispensers.
Can Help in Organizing Medications
The main feature of safety medication dispensers is their dividers or boxes that separate medications based on what day they should be taken. Caregivers will have an easier time tracking what pills, tablets, or other medications their patients should consume with the help of safety medication dispensers.
However, patients that don’t need to rely on caregivers all the time can also benefit from medication dispensers, as these organizers can help them remember what medication to take, especially if the organizers are the automatic type. All in all, medication dispensers are beneficial in organizing medications and helping caregivers and patients know what medications to take for a particular time of the day.
Can Help in Avoiding an Overdose
Senior patients that have Alzheimer’s or dementia would often have a hard time remembering if they have taken a specific medication or not, so there is a high risk of them taking the medication again if they are unsupervised. [1] In order to prevent this from happening, a caregiver would need to place the patient’s medications inside a safety dispenser that has a lock so that the patient will have no way of opening the dispenser and accidentally taking a pill, capsule, or tablet.
With an automatic safety medication dispenser that has a lock, overdosing can be prevented since the caregiver can organize the correct number of medications for specific days, and the patient wouldn’t be able to open the dispenser to tamper with the contents.
And these are just some of the best information we can provide for safety medication dispensers and their benefits. There are already plenty of medication dispensers available on the market, so you won’t have a difficult time finding the best ones to buy.
References
[1] Progress Lifeline News. (2021, February 9). Four reasons you need an automatic medication dispenser. Progress Lifeline. Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://www.progresslifeline.org.uk/news/four-reasons-you-need-an-automatic-medication-dispenser/