Presto + OnTimeRx = Another Great Combo!

On June 27^th, I blogged about the senior-focused Jitterbug cell phone and described how it could be used very effectively with automated OnTimeRx reminders to improve medication adherence. Turns out, there is another simple senior-focused system that works very well with OnTimeRx.

The Presto system is nothing more than a printer that is connected to an ordinary phone line. It receives email and prints it out at pre-selected times - up to five times daily.

Here’s how one OnTimeRx subscriber/caregiver utilizes this combination for her mother:

Mom lives alone and has never used a computer, nor does she want one. However, she is happy to get twice daily medication reminder calls on her regular home phone. The automated phone reminders were set up and managed by her daughter, who is very determined to help her mom stay independent.

She will do whatever it takes to get the job done, and that's why she bought the Presto machine and service. She utilizes it to provide automated OnTimeRx email reminders as an additional “hard copy backup" for the automated phone calls. (A little extra insurance is always a good idea.)

We all know that interruptions can occur, and if Mom doesn’t take her pills as soon as she hangs up the phone, it’s easy to forget to do it later. The daughter has the Presto machine scheduled to print out emails twice daily about 30 minutes after the phone reminders.

This two-pronged system serves two purposes.

1) The email print out provides an additional reminder – sort of like a snooze for the phone calls.

2) The printout can serve to document that Mom actually took her pills, because she jots down the time when she's done.

This documentation also reassures the daughter that her mother is, in fact, doing what she’s supposed to, when she’s supposed to.

Everyone is less stressed and the desired objective is met – to enable Mom to continue living on her own.

Time for a "Reality Check"?

I'm frequently asked to describe OnTimeRx automated reminders, and this is the usual and immediate reaction:

"What a great idea! My grandmother is always forgetting to take her heart medication. She could really use this!"

But when I describe the reminders to a grandmother, I get a totally different reply:
"Oh good gracious! I don't need reminders. I'm not that far gone!"

No disrespect, but.... "Granny" needs a Reality Check!

This is a typical and totally understandable reaction - even if it's based on an irrational fear. She may NOT be remembering to do everything as well as she thinks. Very few of us do.

For some reason, we all tend to think it's inevitable that someday our family will decide that we can't handle our own care anymore. Instead of doing something NOW that will keep that from happening, people tend to deny it will ever happen to them - until it's too late!

I worked for 18 years in a nursing home and I know from experience that most of the residents were placed there by their families when they felt the parent could no longer be trusted to take their medications responsibly.

Even though medication reminders seem like the perfect solution to the younger generation, Granny sees this as a reminder of a different sort and the "denial" stage kicks in and the barriers go up. . Basically she feels she's being told she's getting too old to live alone, and she will fight that to the bitter end. Unfortunately, it's a downhill slope from there, but it doesn't have to be.

Most caregivers are in "sandwich generatiion", the 30 to 50-something age range, and are very comfortable with technology. Why not try some reminders for your own meds or tasks first and see if they help. Then try to entice "Granny" to get with the program. After all, what has she got to lose but her "independence"?!!!