@Bron and Sheba ....Mom's got 2
pill organizers like this....One in the kitchen for her morning pills, and one by her bed for her night pills. She's really good about remembering her morning pills, and I call her to say "goodnight" every night and make sure she takes her night ones.
Her afternoon lasix is in a
pill organizer like this and it sits on the kitchen table where she and a couple of friends from the apartment building play cards every day at 3pm, but she's been forgetting to take them. Last week I called every day about 3 (and sometimes interrupted the game) to remind her to take them, and she'd say she took them already or that she'd take them "right now"....I didn't know until today when I went to refill them all that every one of those pills was still in the box.
Other than actually driving over there and watching her take them, I really don't know what else I could do, but I hope she got the message today that I was NOT happy with her. I hate treating her like a child, but if she doesn't take the medications, she'll end up back in the nursing home or assisted living and she really doesn't like living there.
The apartment building she lives in is connected to the Senior Nutrition site, so all she has to do is walk down the hallway and gets a hot lunch every day. She cooks her own breakfast, and usually has a bowl of soup or sandwich for dinner, and although I do wish she'd eat better, her weight is pretty stable so she must be getting enough
It's really as close to being in assisted living as it can be.....the only difference between the two is that AL has the nurse to make sure meds are taken, and they do provide 3 meals a day. The apartment building she's in has 3 halls of apartments and the residents really watch out for each other. They have a main dining room (other than the Nutrition site) where whoever feels like it meets for coffee in the morning, and most of them leave their doors open during the day for "visiting". On Saturday and Sunday when the nutrition site is closed, someone almost always cooks soup, chili, spaghetti or something for anyone who wants to eat lunch.....and the apartment is $500/month....Assisted Living is $2000/month