Caregiver Win: Prescription Refills

The refill relay

Managing prescriptions has been one of the biggest frustrations in my caregiving journey. I never imagined that something as routine as getting a prescription refilled could become so complicated.

Think about the process. "Someone" has to notice there are only a few pills left. Then they have to call the pharmacy to request a refill. If there aren't any refills remaining, someone has to contact the doctor's office, arrange for a new prescription, and follow up with the pharmacy again. What should be a simple task can quickly turn into multiple phone calls and a lot of unnecessary stress.

Why the system breaks down

The problem is that the system assumes the person taking the medication is also the person managing it. For many older adults, and especially for someone living with dementia, that simply isn't the case. They may faithfully take the pills every day thanks to a pill dispenser or a helper, but they aren't keeping track of how many are left or whether a prescription has expired. If multiple people are helping at home, the paid helpers may not always keep track of how many pills are left either. That responsibility shifts to the caregiver.

So much of caregiving is this kind of back and forth between people and organisations that never talk to each other directly, and I've written before about how often the caregiver ends up stuck in the middle. With prescriptions, the doctor's office says they don't know how quickly the medication is being used, the pharmacy waits for the doctor, and somewhere in between you're trying to make sure no one runs out of an important medication. It can feel like an endless game of phone tag.

The funny thing is, I'm not even great at managing my own prescriptions. I'm a woman of a "certain age," and little administrative tasks have a way of slipping down the priority list. I'm also not someone who enjoys signing up for another app, another password, or another stream of notifications.

One small system that worked

But recently I found one little system that has made life easier.

My local Shoppers Drug Mart texts me when it's time to refill my prescription (mine, not my senior's, yet). I simply reply "yes," and they prepare it. If there aren't any refills remaining, they contact my doctor's office to request a renewal. Suddenly I wasn't trying to remember one more thing.

It sounds like such a small change, but that's exactly the point.

Caregiving isn't usually made easier by one giant solution. It's made easier by putting small systems in place that reduce your mental load. Every reminder you don't have to remember, every phone call you don't have to make, and every task that becomes automatic gives you a little more capacity for everything else.

Questions to ask your pharmacy

A neighbour tells me Costco offers a similar service, although I haven't used it myself. Our local London Drugs hasn't provided this option, at least not for us. Every pharmacy is a little different, so it's worth asking what services they offer.

If you're helping someone manage medications, here are a few questions to ask your pharmacy:

• Do you send refill reminders by text, phone, or email?
• Can I reply to the reminder to request a refill?
• Will you contact the doctor's office when there are no refills remaining?
• Can prescriptions be synchronised so they refill at the same time?
• Can a caregiver receive the reminders instead of the patient?

If you're just starting to take over someone's medications, our Caregiver's Getting Started Checklist walks through reviewing prescriptions with a pharmacist and setting up a simple refill system, alongside the other early moves worth making.

Small wins add up

Sometimes the biggest caregiving wins aren't dramatic. They're the simple systems that quietly remove one more thing from your to-do list.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, look for one small improvement this week. One less phone call. One less thing to remember. One less task living in your head. Those small wins add up.

A final note: my senior's prescription refills will be going to my local Shoppers from now on. Their points system is better anyway!