Types Of Information

Medical professionals may ask the person you support, or you if necessary, questions about the person’s medical conditions. The medical professional may want to know about certain lifestyle choices. They probably will ask some questions about the person’s past history with taking medications, nutritional supplements, and herbal remedies, as well as vaccinations and medication sensitivities.

Why Use Documentation

It can be difficult to remember all the information about health and medication history, especially if the person or you are feeling ill or upset at the time the individual is seeking treatment.

Documentation

Well written records of health and medication histories can be very helpful documents for the health care provider in deciding what medications or other treatments to prescribe or recommend.  By keeping this important information in one place in the support setting, you will have the information you want whenever you need it. This information can also be very helpful in an emergency when a person may not be able to share critical information.

Asking Questions About Medications

Medical professionals and pharmacists rely on their patients and customers to ask questions when they are confused or concerned. Unless you, or the person you support, asks a question, medical professionals may assume you understand everything you need to know.

Be prepared at each visit with a health care practitioner to receive a prescription.  If you do, make sure you understand exactly how to use the medication. It is possible for practitioners to forget or overlook something in a medical history; for example, an allergy to certain medications. If you believe this is a possibility, speak up.  Remember, it's not the doctor or pharmacist that will suffer if the medication is given incorrectly or is a poor match to the person.  

Written Prescriptions

If a prescription is written during an office visit do the following things:

1. Listen carefully to what the health care practitioner says about the prescription. Take notes if needed. Remind the practitioner, if necessary, of any possible conflicts based on the health and medication history.
2. Ask the health care practitioner to write the prescription without shorthand or abbreviations. Ask that the purpose for the prescription be included on the written prescription. These requests can help the pharmacist avoid confusion among similar medications that are used for different purposes. Read the prescription form. Make sure you understand everything on it. If is it confusing or illegible, ask the doctor to clarify or rewrite.
3. Tell the health care practitioner what you are going to do with the medication when administering the medication to a person you support or observing a person you support self-administer the medication (That is, read back to the health care practitioner the five rights).

Talk to a Pharmacist

Don't forget that the pharmacist can be a big help in understanding medications. A quick question like: "Which decongestant can be taken with medication for high blood pressure?" can save you lots of time and help you feel confident about your decisions and actions.

Medication Storage Requirements

Different medications have different storage requirements. Read and follow the storage directions on the label. If there are no specific storage directions, the following tips for storage may be useful.

• Store medications away from direct sunlight and in their original containers.
• Avoid high temperatures (over an oven) and places that are damp (such as in the bathroom or basement.
• Refrigerated medication must be kept at about 36-40 degrees.
• Store medications where they cannot be accidentally taken. Keep them away from children (and adults who are unable to understand their medications). You may be required by law to lock up medications in some situations.
• Discard expired medications when you find them. This way there is no chance they will be taken accidentally.
• Every 4-6 weeks, review the contents of the medication storage space. Discard medications that are expired or no longer prescribed. Reorganize any medications that are not where they need to be.

Numerous People and Medications

 If there are a number of people living together and several people providing medication support, carefully label the bins, drawers, or shelves used to keep medications organize. 

• Organized and effective storage systems will do the following:
• Keep all medications in their original containers with their labels.
• Separate the medications in the following ways:
  • Keep the medications for each person separate.
  • Separate morning from evening medications
  • Separate medications by different routes (e.g., oral, topical, IV)