All-in-One Guide: Medication Management for People With Disabilities

By Sarah Breckon

This all-in-one guide includes medication management tips for those who have—or are caring for someone with—impairments or disabilities. SingleCare, a prescription savings service, compiled information from the CDC, FDA, doctors, and pharmacists to create this resource. The following strategies are helpful whether you or someone you’re caring for has visual impairments, mobility limitations, or intellectual disabilities.

Visual impairments make it difficult to read calendars, medical devices (i.e., glucose monitors), prescription labels, and medication guides. If you have a visual impairment, it could be helpful to use audio cues when possible. For example, sound-based alarms can remind you when it’s time to take your medication. Or, if you’re shopping for certain medical devices, buy one that includes audio instructions. Prescription labels and medication guides can be printed in large, bold font or braille. Just ask your pharmacist! 

When your mobility is limited, opening and closing medication containers can be challenging. Fortunately, you can request a medication lid that is not childproof. Child-resistant lids can be difficult to open. Just remember to keep these containers out-of-reach of children and pets.

Traveling to the pharmacy to refill multiple medicines can be another obstacle. Instead of making frequent trips to the drugstore, you can either request larger quantity refills or enroll in mail-order prescriptions.

Often, a medical diagnosis—be it an illness or health condition—comes with a slew of medical jargon. If you’ve been diagnosed with multiple health conditions—as two out of three older adults in America have—it’s challenging to remember what each diagnosis means, the treatments each requires, and the potential drug-drug interactions that can occur when taking multiple medications. 

For people living with intellectual disabilities, this can be even more overwhelming. Most healthcare professionals, including doctors and pharmacists, are happy to spend more time explaining their diagnosis, the treatment they’ve recommended, and the medication they’ve prescribed. All you have to do is request a longer appointment so they can plan accordingly.

Today, many nurses and doctors will even ask how you learn best, which includes visual, audio, and interactive techniques. Depending on your answer, they’re able to present information in the format that works best for you.