Personal Care - Feeding and Medication Reminders

Assisting with Feeding

When helping clients with feeding, it is important to understand what a caregiver can and cannot do:

• A caregiver can only assist clients with feeding when the client can independently

  swallow and be positioned upright

• Whenever there is a high risk that the client may choke as a result of the feeding, the client

  should not be fed by the homecare provider. Instead, they will be fed by a home health nurse or a home nursing agency.

• Similarly, home care workers should not be using syringes, tube feedings, or intravenous nutrition

Medication Reminders

A caregiver may assist a client with medication reminding only when medications have been pre-selected by the client, a family member, a nurse, or a pharmacist and are stored in containers other than the prescription bottles, such as medication minders. 

• Medication minder containers shall be clearly marked as to day and time of dosage.

• Medication reminding includes: 

  • inquiries as to whether medications were taken;

  • verbal prompting to take medications;

  • handing the appropriately marked medication minder container to the client;

  • and opening the appropriately marked medication minder container for the client if the client is physically unable to open the container

These limitations apply to all prescription and all over-the-counter medications. The caregiver shall immediately report to their scheduler any irregularities noted in the pre-selected medications, such as medications taken too often or not often enough, or not at the correct time as identified in the written instructions.

Best practices for caregivers when it comes to medication reminders:

• Remember that caregivers are not allowed to dose medication - instead, make sure that medications have been pre-selected by a family member, a nurse or a pharmacist and are stored in a weekly pill planner. This way, you only need to ask the client to take the pills that are in that day's box.

• When picking up prescriptions for your client, have the pharmacist add it directly to the pill box

• Understand your client's health conditions, the purpose of the pills and the common side effects so that you can understand whether a situation should be brought up to your scheduler (non-emergency) or 911 (emergency)

• Set phone reminders when the client needs to take pills and, ideally, form a behavioral pattern by always taking medications after a "triggering event" such as after brushing your teeth in the morning or after lunch

Here are a few tips for when your client is refusing to take their medication: