Medication of the elderly

As people grow older, they often develop chronic illnesses that require medicinal treatment. Therefore, you may be taking several different medicines. When planned well, taking several medicines concomitantly is safe. You should make a list of the medicines you currently use. Include all the prescription medicines and vaccines as well as any over-the-counter medicines you use. The list should also include any nutritional supplements you take, such as vitamins and minerals and natural products. When visiting healthcare services, show the list of medicines to the professional treating you. Based on the list, healthcare professionals can monitor the effectiveness of your treatment and assess whether a possible new medication is suitable with your current medication regimen.

As you age, changes in your body may affect the action and safety of medicines.  A previously suitable medicine may no longer be the best option. Even medicines that have been in use for a long time may cause new adverse effects. Among older adults, adverse effects typically include dizziness, muscle weakness, dry mouth, constipation, wooziness and fatigue. 

Successful medication requires that you, as a medicine user, monitor the effects your medication has and your overall well-being. Report any changes or adverse effects you may have observed to a doctor, nurse or pharmacy professional. Healthcare professionals can advise you on how to ensure your medicinal treatment is safe,  which medicines are suitable for you, and the right dose for each of them.

To make sure your medicinal treatment goes as planned, you can:

• keep an up-to-date list of your medication. Record the name, dose and purpose of the drug in the medication list. Include prescription medicines, vaccines, over-the-counter medicines and nutritional supplements, such as vitamins and minerals and natural products. You can write a list on paper by hand or use online templates and mobile phone programs made especially for this purpose.
• monitor your condition regularly yourself by measuring your blood pressure and blood sugar, for example. A pharmacy can provide you with aids for this, such as blood pressure monitoring cards.
• visit a doctor regularly. Electronic systems do not show a doctor which medicines you are currently taking. Always give your medication list to your doctor and ask them to assess your medication as a whole. 
• independently monitor the effects of your medicinal treatment. For example, you can use the LOTTA checklist for successful medication (in Finnish), which is intended for people over the age of 65. If you have adverse effects to some medicine or if the effect of the medicine has changed, please inform your doctor.
• remember to renew your prescriptions in time so you can get a new package of your medicine before running out. The prescriptions for medicines in long-term use are valid for a maximum of two years. You can check the period of validity for a prescription or the amount of medicine remaining with the prescription in the MyKanta service or from the dose instruction label printed out for the medicine package at a pharmacy.  
• ask for help with problems related to your medicinal treatment when needed.  Your medication regimen can be evaluated in multidisciplinary collaboration by healthcare professionals. However, there is no need to assess medicinal treatment every year – it is needed only if you experience problems with your medication, or if your doctor suggests that it should be reassessed. It is therefore important to tell a doctor, nurse or pharmacy professional if you feel that you are having problems with medicines.
• use a pill organiser to help with remembering to take your medicines or ask a pharmacy about the possibility of providing your medicines in dose-dispensing pouches. The dose-dispensing service is suitable if you take several oral medicines on a regular basis and this medicinal treatment is well-established.

Meds75+

The purpose of Meds75+ is to support clinical decision-making on the medicinal treatment of adults aged 75 years or over and promote evidence-based, effective and safe medicinal treatment in primary health care. The continuously updated Meds75+ contains classifications and recommendations concerning the use of approximately 450 medicinal substances or their combinations for older adults.  Meds75+ is primarily intended for use by healthcare professionals, but medicine users can also access it via the FimeaWeb service. However, medicinal treatment must always be started, changed or discontinued under the supervision of a doctor.

More information

Meds75+
LOTTA checklist for successful medication (in Finnish)