Every morning, 72-year-old Jjaja Malita sits at the edge of her bed in her home in Kanyunga while her daughter arranges a small collection of medicines beside her. There is a tablet for blood pressure, another for diabetes, one for joint pain, and several others prescribed during different visits to health facilities.
Jjaja Malita sometimes struggles to remember which medicine should be taken before or after meals. Her daughter, who has become her main caregiver, worries that giving her “too many tablets” could be doing more harm than good.
Jjaja Malita’s situation reflects a growing challenge in elderly care: polypharmacy, the use of multiple medicines by one person. For older adults living with several chronic conditions, medicines can be essential for controlling illness and maintaining independence. However, when many medicines are taken together, the risk of side effects, drug interactions, duplicate treatment and medication errors can increase.
For families caring for older people at home, the problem can be particularly difficult. Prescriptions may come from different health facilities or healthcare providers, while information about all the medicines being used may not always be shared. Some families may also combine prescribed medicines with over-the-counter drugs or herbal remedies without discussing them with a healthcare professional.
This is where home nurses can make an important difference. A home nurse can sit with the older person and caregiver, review every medicine being taken and help establish a clear medication schedule. Rather than simply asking whether the patient is taking their medicines, the nurse can ask a more important question: “What exactly are you taking, and why?”
Caregivers also need to know the warning signs. Dizziness, unusual sleepiness, confusion, weakness, falls or other unexpected changes should be reported to a healthcare professional rather than automatically being attributed to old age.
Regular medication reviews are equally important. Families can carry all the medicines to clinic appointments and ask healthcare professionals whether each one is still necessary. Medicines should not be stopped, added or changed without professional guidance.
Jjaja Malita’s story reminds us that medication safety is not only about prescriptions; it is about people. Behind every collection of tablets is an older person, a family and a caregiver trying to do the right thing. By strengthening communication between families, home nurses and healthcare professionals, Uganda can make elderly care safer, more coordinated and more compassionate.
The writer is the Executive Director Tick Bedside Nursing Care and Elderly Home. Tell +256772467311 +256701467311 Email: tickbedsidenursing@gmail.com www.tickbedsidenurses.com
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