78-years-old Molly was recently discharged after spending 50 days in two different hospital and rehab centers. She lives with multiple chronic conditions like lung and lymph node cancer, type II diabetes and ulcerative colitis, otherwise known as IBD. Her IBD symptoms were so severe they led to malnourishment and significant weight loss. Molly was also taking 29 prescribed and over-the-counter medications and reported experiencing a lot of weakness and dizziness.
Molly is a member of the Kenneth Young Center, a Partners’ HomeMeds licensee, and they identified her as a great candidate for the medication management program. Their care coordinators conducted a HomeMeds assessment, where they inventoried all her prescribed medications, over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, herbals, and supplements in the home.
Following the assessment, Molly was provided with a pharmacist letter that included recommendations on changing how and when to take certain medications, as well as educational handouts for her specific chronic conditions.
Molly reflects, “the information gained is more than what I got spending 50 days in the hospital talking to the doctors!” As a result of the assessment, she altered her diet to avoid foods that may aggravate IBD symptoms, and started to incorporate foods that will calm them and promote healing. Pharmacists also suggested adjustments in her medications, and she now has reported improvements in her IBD symptoms, less dizziness and feels stronger after making the adjustments.
If HomeMeds sounds like a service your organization should be considering, please email HomeMeds@picf.org
