Medication errors bring about death in alarming rates in today’s society. They can arise from lack of information about one's health, ignorance, accident etc. Medication errors can be traced from the patients themselves as well as the health caregivers. From prescription to interpretation of a patient’s health condition, a health caregiver is likely to administer inaccurate treatment because every diagnosis is crucial to the unknown information (Anderson & Abrahamson 2017). The health sector is gaining more entry into understanding the functional biotics of life. Various institutions are striving to increase awareness among the masses on effective ways to prevent self-medication errors. This paper will analyze five tips for preventive care for patients as well as the local resources available at the community level for the success of the actions.
Constant self-health information to the health care team
One is required to ensure that his/her health provider is updated on their health conditions. This will ensure their better understanding of the patient’s health dynamics. Crucial information is often left out in the diagnosis of health conditions where little information is availed (Darker et al. 2015). A patient is required to inform the health providers of the medicines they used before, especially without the prescription of the doctors. Accurate histories of illness and treatment are also vital to every next prescription.
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Acquiring maximum information from health providers
A patient should know the impacts of using diagnosed treatments. This will allow them to foresee the ignored or misinterpreted information especially when one has allergies to specific drugs. Allergic reactions are considered normal to the human body. A patient is required to know their exact allergic conditions because in extreme cases, they have the potential to stretch to fatal limits. Additionally, the patient could pay attention to the ingredients of the medication to check for any red lights.
Confirming prescription
Doctors are known to be among the busiest professionals in the life-saving sector of the community. With their less number, they are subject to drug prescription errors. It is important for a patient to confirm with the pharmacist that the prescription is right. However, the career is strict on doctors to avoid this kind of error and legal action may be taken upon these errors. Patients who avoid confirming their prescriptions with pharmacists are more likely to induce themselves self-medication errors.
Regular tests
The cost of acquiring health care has been reduced significantly after the establishment of health insurance companies. Patients should go for regular medical checkups to ensure that the healthcare team updates their health information. The mutation of pathogens in the body demands the need for regular checkups.
Ensuring healthy daily routines
Patients should lead a healthy lifestyle by reducing exposure to health inhibitors. This can be done by healthy feeding, avoiding drugs like tobacco, completing prescribed dosages, maintaining drug intake schedules for poly-pharmacist patients etc. In the healthy body state, patients are more likely to discover changes in their bodies which may expose vulnerabilities and potential allergic reactants.
Local resources at the community level
Health providers have increased their availability to the community after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act by the World Health Organization. Certified clinics, mobile hospitals, the internet and community social groups have demonstrated significant contribution towards helping the public in understanding the need for health care systems. Besides the diagnosis of health conditions, they emphasize on the need of the patient to understand their bodies, the doctor’s prescriptions and both the internal and external factors that may threaten their health. If these tips are adhered to, the chances of one suffering self-medication errors are kept at a minimum.
References
Anderson, J. G., & Abrahamson, K. (2017). Your Health Care May Kill You: Medical Errors. In ITCH (pp. 13-17).
Daker-White, G., Hays, R., McSharry, J., Giles, S., Cheraghi-Sohi, S., Rhodes, P., & Sanders, C. (2015). Blame the patient, blame the doctor or blame the system? A meta-synthesis of qualitative studies of patient safety in primary care. PLoS One , 10 (8), e0128329.
Familydoctor.org “Medical errors. Tips to help prevent them” The American Academy of Family Physicians. 2018.
