Answers to Interview Questions
How long have you taken each of these medications?
I have taken the medications for two years now.
Do you know why you are taking these medications?
Yes, because I am apparently suffering from various ailments including depression and diabetes.
Who told you about the medications and why do you need to take them? Were you able to ask any questions about the medications and if so were they answered, so you understood what was said?
The doctor carefully described the nature of my conditions and the importance of each medication in relation to the expected outcome. I understood the doctor, and after conferring with my friends and close acquaintances since I have no family, it was clear to me.
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How do you feel about taking these medications?
I do not feel okay because they are many and I sometimes get confused about which medication to take.
Are you taking other medication purchased "over the counter" such as in a drug store? If so, what is it and why are you taking it.
No, I am not taking any “over the counter” medication.
How and when do you take your medications?
I take my medication using warm water after consuming enough food. For my Type 2 diabetes, I take three medications at various intervals during the day, which are often mid-morning, lunch times, and evenings. For depression, I take two antidepressants in the morning.
Do you have any difficulty taking the medications? If so, what happens and how do you deal with any difficulties.
No, I do not have any difficulties in taking my medication.
Have you ever felt any uncomfortable feelings and/or body reactions to taking these medications? If so, what were they and how were they handled?
No, I have not felt uncomfortable feelings so far.
If you had the above reaction, did they take you off the medication and/or replace it with another medication? Were you told why this happened?
N/A.
Do you have any reason not to take the medications?
No, I am not aware of any medical conditions that might affect my medicine intake.
Have you ever not taken the medication? If so, what was the reason?
Yes, I have missed taking the antidepressants a couple of times because I was rushing to close a business deal.
Would you like to tell me anything further about the medications you are taking?
Yes, I feel that they are not consistent with their intended purpose. Sometimes I feel well while other times I feel worse taking them, though not so much. That is just about it.
Client Teaching Plan
Goals and Objectives
Concurrency and frequent occurrences of chronic illnesses often lead to an augmentation of diseases with old age. Consequently, Hosseini et al., (2017) indicate that medication amounts taken by such victims often augment significantly leading to a serious and potentially mortal problem within the practice of pharmacotherapy. Cantlay et al., (2016) show that since polypharmacy refers to the state of taking more than five medications at a go, it presents an increased risk of medical conditions such as confusion, dizziness, hypoglycemia, cardiotoxicity, and sedation among others. Therefore, the goal of this teaching plan is to elucidate the patient properly, predominantly, on how to handle polypharmacy the right way to achieve meaningful results.
Teaching Resources
To achieve this effort, teaching aids are imperative to use as older people have limited cognitive response rates. While it is imperative to give older individuals time to show their experiences and curious nature since learning can continue well beyond 80 years of age, it is equally important to consider cognitive conditions that manifest with age such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s. As such, simple teaching tools are the most effective, which range from simple educative articles to the use of information charts and pictograms.
Teaching Strategy
Strategy is highly significant in teaching the elderly (Schattner et al., 2014). While age advances in life, a resultant decline in most sensory functions usually happens, which results in partial vision, hearing, and touch. In some cases, this decline in sensory function often leads to a complete loss. In this case, the interviewee had a perfect sensory function. Therefore, the use of aids as a strategy is not needed. However, the patient had difficulty understanding complex sentence structures; therefore, in presenting new information, the best approach would be at a slower rate and in a low yet audible tone.
Speaking in a low tone and allocating enough time for information assimilation and integration by the patient will bring about understanding and viable responses. Also, ensuring there are no distractions is of utmost importance. Older people can be easily distracted as displayed by this patient; however, removing environmental distractions ensures proper concentration by the patient, thereby, resulting in proper assimilation, understanding, and ultimately implementation.
Teaching older individuals should be individualized to fit the needs and lifestyle of the patient. For this patient, the teaching strategy should focus more on Type 2 diabetes and depression. However, it is important to note that while suggesting lifestyle changes, the teacher should be aware of the cautiousness older patients take before accepting such medical advice; therefore, being patient and delivering the information in doses of small increments is key.
Client Instructions Regarding the Medication and Side Effects
In prescribing and taking diabetes and anti-depression medication, pertinent steps should be taken by the pharmacist to ensure careful prescription and advice to the client (Scott et al., 2015). These steps include
Avoiding other medications
Informing the prescriber of current medications, allergies, and medical conditions (Keijsers et al., 2015)
Keeping drugs away from children
If breastfeeding inform the prescriber
Asking the pharmacist for proper packaging if taking multiple medications
Some of the side effects include
Nausea
Feeling tired
Blurred vision
Weight gain
Gas, bloating, and diarrhea
References
Cantlay, A., Glyn, T., & Barton, N. (2016). Polypharmacy in the elderly. Innovait: Education And Inspiration For General Practice , 9 (2), 69-77. doi: 10.1177/1755738015614038
Keijsers, C., de Wit, J., Tichelaar, J., Brouwers, J., de Wildt, D., de Vries, P., & Jansen, P. (2015). Education on prescribing for older patients in the Netherlands: a curriculum mapping. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology , 71 (5), 603-609. doi: 10.1007/s00228-015-1830-2
Schattner, A., Adi, M., & Ben-Galim, P. (2014). Low-back pain, lassitude and loss of appetite. JRSM Open , 5 (6), 205427041452340. doi: 10.1177/2054270414523409
Scott, I., Hilmer, S., Reeve, E., Potter, K., Le Couteur, D., & Rigby, D. et al. (2015). Reducing Inappropriate Polypharmacy. JAMA Internal Medicine , 175 (5), 827. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.0324
Zabihi, A., Hosseini, S., Jafarian Amiri, S., & Bijani, A. (2018). Polypharmacy among the elderly. Journal of Mid-Life Health , 9 (2), 97. doi: 10.4103/jmh.jmh_87_17
