If you’re a senior, you may have read tips before about how or where to store medicines for safekeeping against heat or cold.
But extreme temperatures may not be your medications’ worst enemies.
With the opioid crisis going on nowadays, there are people—perhaps even someone you know and care for—who regularly search homes for medicines that may fuel their addiction. Or, there are other medicines that contain special ingredients that can be used to make addicting medicines.
Here’s just one example from a local resident that illustrates the potential abuse or misuse of prescription medication: An elderly mother was approached by her daughter and adult grandson. They offered to take the mother’s old medicines and deliver them to the appropriate community drop boxes. However, in retrospect, the grandson, a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder, may have taken the old pain medication to use for himself.
So, to keep your medications safe and to avoid misuse, follow these tips from Drug Free Manatee:
1. Keep prescription medicine in a locked cabinet. A regular medicine cabinet is too easily accessible.
2. Learn where you can safely dispose of medications in your community. Manatee County police departments will take your unused medications and safely dispose of them. Find the addresses for your local police departments on this informative flyer from Drug Free Manatee. “Flushing medications down the toilet or throwing them in the trash is hazardous to humans, animals, and the environment,” Drug Free Manatee reports.
3. Monitor how many pills you have left. This helps you make sure you haven’t overused a medication or that someone else has not inappropriately used it.
4. Make sure that young people in your family know the dangers of prescription drug abuse. Many area high schools have education programs that focus on the dangers of alcohol and drug addiction. This sort of education ideally helps deter drug theft.
5. Seek help if you believe you are struggling with addiction. Unfortunately, prescription drug addiction is a common problem. If you find it hard to manage your daily activities without the use of prescription drugs, contact one of the valuable organizations found on this website from Drug Free Manatee.
Call Secure Aging to Find Out How We Can Help Seniors With Financial Management
At Secure Aging in Bradenton, we transform the weight of the world into a sigh of relief for our senior clients and their concerned family members. The mission of Secure Aging is to protect and preserve our client’s independence and dignity through careful and thoughtful financial and care management. As our clients age, it is their desire to remain independent and age with dignity. Our services protect our clients from talented con artists looking to exploit and deplete the financial resources of our vulnerable seniors. Secure Aging helps families in Manatee County and Sarasota County and in and around the communities of Anna Maria, Bradenton, Bradenton Beach, Ellenton, Holmes Beach, Lakewood Ranch, Longboat Key, Myakka City, Palmetto, Parrish, and Sarasota. Call us at 941-761-9338, or visit us online at www.secureaging.com.
