Sue: Problems with multiple medicines (I) – Difficulties administering medicines
Listen to patients and health professionals speak about their experience with taking multiple medicines.
Sue
Female
Age at interview: 65
Number of medicines: 16
Cultural background: Anglo-Australian
Sue found she could not open the bottles of some of her medicines and had to ask her pharmacist or neighbour to help her.
I'd have to ask the chemist to open them, break the seal and open them. Then I'd carry them home like that because there was no ... that's right, it was when I had the pyoderma, because the pyoderma was in my hand and I'm right-handed, my right hand was unusable. So I'm working with my left hand which has already been scarred … I've had surgery on it so I don't have full movement in my left hand because of another episode of pyoderma. So for me to get this medication into me out of the bottle was not possible. And at one stage, the first time I realised and I hadn't asked the chemist to open it, I went in next door and my neighbour came in. I said just open them all for me, just leave them there with the lids sitting lightly on the top and he did that, but it's the sort of thing you don't think of. Yes, so I was very cranky when I realised I'd carefully bought it all but I couldn't take it.
The Living with multiple medicines project was developed in collaboration with Healthtalk Australia.