“Please take your
medicine?
50% of chronically ill people need a better reason
50% of chronically ill people need a better reason
People hate medicines. It’s a fact of life. As many as 50% of
people with chronic illnesses don’t take their medicine correctly". Euro RSCG Tonic 5.0 Survey
Isn’t it ironic that one of the world’s top
global marketing companies Euro RSCG (representing Big Pharma giants Novartis,
Merck, Sanofi, and more) gets it …
… yet between Multiple Sclerosis symptoms of
memory loss and mental confusion, Patti especially when prescribed something or
treated with something she does not like - often tinkers with the best laid
plans of mice and caring people.
When not repeatedly monitored or involved with
people for the couple hours she is supposed to wear her braces for daily
low-load, long-duration stretch for knee contracture therapy she simply forgets
and fidgets with braces. The pads with velcro x's half way down her shins should
be positioned over her knee caps. As pictured and worn they accomplish nothing.
Or recently one of her bedtime medications was
changed from a capsule to liquid. Yet liquid was so foul tasting Patti gagged
or choked reaching a point of refusing to take. Intervening as her POA I
discovered no one really knew why the change, or had ever recommended a change.
Back to a capsule all is well.
Outside looking in whether medication or
therapy, how often do we see or essentially say - here is ‘your’ problem, here
is ‘your’ solution, then sprinkle it with some encouraging mantra and suggest ‘just
do it’.
An ever growing mountain of challenges rises
with progression - who wouldn’t need ‘a better reason’ to take
or do something that at best might make you feel better than you are but less
than you were.
Caregivingly Yours, Patrick Leer
videos: www.youtube.com/daddyleer
