An Aid for Caregivers, A Medication Organizer That Works

Finding a medication organizer that works.

“I try to save time whenever I can. I figure the three to five minutes I spend opening my supplements and Rx bottles daily would add up to almost two months in an average lifetime.”
By Brenda Avadian, The Caregiver’s Voice

As a family or professional caregiver you have a stressful job with many demands on your time. One of these critic demands on your time is the management of medications and supplements of those in your care.

“Thirty percent of the time, people miss their medications, double up, or in some way don’t follow their doctors orders. Sometimes, the result can be fatal.”
By Brenda Avadian, The Caregiver’s Voice

The PillRite is an essential tool for the caregiver. It is a systematic way to organize medications quickly and accurately a month at a time, instead of the typical one month method.

One of the PillRite features is a MyPillList compartment. The MyPillList compartment stores a current and accurate log of medications and supplements. The information is especially important when handing off care to another caregiver. It is also critical information for First Responders to act quickly in an emergency situation.

The PillRite also has an exclusive refill reminder system. It helps you keep track of refills by marking were you ran out of a pill and a matching marker is put in your empty pill bottle reminding you to refill that prescription or supplement. This keeps you ahead of your refills and any delays buying new medication refills and supplements.

Please read our latest review from Caregivers’ Voice, an organization helping family caregivers and professionals with the challenges and stresses of caregiving by providing them support and knowledge in a hopeful framework. Look for founder Brenda Avadian speaking in your area.

http://thecaregiversvoice.com/tcv-review/the-caregivers-voice-review-pillrite-medication-organizer

 

Why the PIllRite?

Hello, I am Mary Ann Andrews the creator of the Pillrite. I’d like to tell you about how the Pillrite came into existence. In later posts I’d like to share some things I’ve learned in the course of developing the product and about the challenge of taking medication regularly for a chronic condition.

I would dread Sunday night. Sunday night meant I would have to drag out all my medication and vitamin bottles, and my pill boxes to organize my medication for the next week. I am like many in America, there are 32 million of us that take three or more medications daily, take medication for a chronic condition. Matter of fact, I take medication twice a day. The chore of having to take my medicine out of the pill bottle and drop it into the AM or the PM pillbox was annoying because I had to do it every week, every week I had to fight the temptation to put it off to tomorrow. Maybe my favorite TV show was on, maybe it was late and I was tired. But, if I wanted the benefit of taking the medication and did not want the consequence of not taking them, I had to go through the routine again. There had to be a better way.

There are many pillboxes on the market from the one time per day for one week that we all know, the two times per day for one week, and the four times per day for one week, just to mention a few. I tried them all. I tried to make something work so I didn’t have to take out my pill bottles every week. Nothing was satisfactory, sometimes I ended with more of a problem then when I started. Again, there had to be a better way.

Then one day it hit me, why don’t I use eight of the standard one time per day for one week pill boxes. That would allow me to only have to fill my pillboxes every four weeks. However, that also created a bunch of pillboxes laying around. I liked the idea of filling every four weeks ,but there had to be a better way. Then it hit me again, what if I placed the pillboxes vertically into a caddy? Sort like a sixpack, or an eightpack, if you will. I enlisted my husband, got some balsa wood, a glue gun and the first PillRite was created.

I found a product design firm and over the months the snap-in pillboxes were created,then the different colored AM and PM pillboxes, the refill reminder markers, and the MyMedlist compartment. This  all came together to become the PillRite of today, the only twice daily, four week medication organization system.

I am very proud of this product and how it can make life better for all of us that take medication twice daily.

More on the PillRite and Pillbox Products

The treatment of chronic illnesses commonly includes the long-term use of pharmacotherapy. Although these medications are effective in combating disease, for example, antiepileptic medications for seizures in people who have epilepsy, their  full benefits are often not realized because while some studies show that 73 percent of people with epilepsy are compliant, others report that 50 percent sometimes forget to take their medication as prescribed.  Talking about compliance can be a very dry subject, however, it must be clear that being compliant can improve health outcomes and quality of life. And sometimes it can save your life.

It is our goal at PillBox Products  to help people in a concrete way to become compliant with taking their medications as prescribed by their doctors. The ultimate goal of the PillRite System is to create a lifetime habit of taking medication regularly as prescribed.  It is also our vision to raise awareness to the benefits of being compliant.  We will manage our business with integrity and the highest ethical standards, and act in a socially responsible manner with particular emphasis on the well-being of our customers and their special needs.

Though each patient must be able to understand potential behavioral and emotional barriers to taking medications we have created a tool that can help in a dynamic way address these issues.  We understand that  taking  medication chronically can be frustrating and sometimes lead to resentment.

Understanding   adherence is more than the act of taking a medication. It incorporates a change in behavior that may involve multiple processes such as the act of taking a pill, visiting their physicians for a medical appointment and by having their medication timely and available.  Though much has been discussed about the latter little has been discussed about the act of taking the pill.

Our plan has been to create a product that deals directly with the act of taking medication accurately, two times per day for four weeks, consistently and on time. Our plan is to simplify treatment through the use of the PillRite system. Back to our example,for those with epilepsy this is of particular importance as taking their antiepileptic medications as directed can be the best way to control seizures and minimize side effects. PillRite helps alleviate frustration and resentment by organizing medications in a way that can more easily be incorporated as a habit or lifestyle change.  It is simple yet effective.