We are well and truly in the middle of flu season. Chances are you know a few people who are smothering at the minute. It might be a good idea for them to get a medication app after their trip to the pharmacy.
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Why use a medication app?
If you’re not used to taking tablets, medicine is like organising how you eat Smarties. People are frantically Googling “flu” at the moment, just take a look for yourself:
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On the flipside, if you do take regular medication, you probably remember missing a few doses. Research carried out by the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) has found a 250% increase in polypharmacy between 1997 and 2012. Polypharmacy is the use of five or more medications by an individual. Ensuring doses are taken in correct doses at the right time is increasingly difficult due to the sheer volumes of tablets being taken. Thankfully, whether you just need help getting through a bad dose or to manage lots of tablets, there’s a medication app to help.
Benefits of Medisafe
Medisafe was created with one simple idea – “medicine can’t work when it’s not taken”. Worse still, people die every year from taking their medication incorrectly. Medisafe has loads of research showing the effectiveness of their app in helping patients manage medication. You can even add in supplements like vitamins too.
Unfortunately, I found myself in January with such a dose and on antibiotics. It’s rare I’m sick, so taking tablets is far from the norm for me. I turned to Medisafe and started punching in the details. Initially, I thought this would just be a reminder service, but it goes further. Once I entered Amoxicillin 5mg, the app gave me information though this dude:
The app also allows you to pick the exact colour of your medication. If you are taking multiple medications, this makes picking the right ones much easier.
There are even some social aspects. You could add a parent as a Medfriend in the app, so you know if they’ve forgotten to take their meds.
Does Medisafe work?
Personally, I can attest to it working. I can hear myself saying “oh god yeah my tablet”, every time Medisafe pops me a notification. I already would have missed multiple doses, and that’s just me taking one tablet, three times a day.
The free version of the app will cater to almost all of your needs. Upgrading to premium only adds some non-essential frills.
The Medisafe medication app is available for iOS and Android.