Do your loved ones struggle to take medicine, or simply refuse to take their medicine regularly? While taking medicine on time is incredibly crucial for your loved ones, it is still, unfortunately, a common struggle among those in their golden years. Here is a guide to encouraging your loved ones to take their medicine.
Maintain Calm and Positive
If your loved ones are not taking their medicine on time, the last thing you want to do is add to their stress and cause them to be more unwilling to eat their medicine. Instead, you should maintain your composure and speak calmly and positively. This is because when spoken to in a calm manner, your loved ones are more likely to relax and settle down. At the same time, try to treat your loved one as an equal to better persuade them to have their medicine. However, be careful not to command or control them as it can cause them to be even more closed off and unwilling to take their medicine. Remember, the key is to remain calm, positive, and encouraging.
Inquire About the Side Effects
Did you know that one common reason why people refuse to take medicine is because of the side effects? Therefore, it is crucial that you do not rule out this reasoning. You need to ask your loved ones if they experience any unpleasant side effects that cause them to be wary of taking their medicine. If they are unwilling to talk about it, you can also look at the label to see what type of adverse effects their drug has. If the side effects are serious, you can talk to their doctor about switching their medication to one with fewer or no adverse effects. If the side effects are not particularly serious and there is no better alternative medicine, try talking to them about it and explain the necessity and benefits of the medicine, and how the side effects are merely temporary.
Change the Intake Method
Another possible reason why your loved one does not want to have their medicine is that they are struggling with the intake method. Specifically, they may find that the medicines are too big and difficult to swallow. Other times, they may find the medicine too bitter that it is difficult to swallow, and are wary to take the medicine because of the prolonged awful taste. If that is the case, switch the intake method of the medicine. Thankfully, most medicine today are available in a variety of forms. So, seek their doctor or pharmacist for the best recommended alternate forms and medicine dosages.
Concentrate on the Most Important Ones
While it is best for your loved one to take every medicine and vitamin, sometimes it is too difficult to do so. Instead, part of medication management is concentrating on encouraging your loved ones to take the more important medicine that their doctors have prescribed. For instance, you can tell your loved one that they do not need to take the vitamins, and instead, only need to take these 3 important medicines. By reducing the number of medicine they need to take, they will be more enticed and likely to take the necessary medicines.
