When an older adult suddenly seems more confused, the cause is often sitting in the pill organizer, not the brain. I help families and the professionals who guide them tell the difference before a label gets attached.
Families need plain language and the right questions to ask in the room with the doctor. Professionals, discharge planners, social workers, care coordinators, need to see a systematic method they can trust. I sit in the middle and do both.
I spent years in long-term care and geriatric pharmacy watching the same pattern: medication complexity overwhelming families, with no one translating it for them. I moved into home care to do that translation where the confusion is usually worst, at home. I own Options Home Care, the only pharmacist-owned home care agency in North Carolina, with locations in Greensboro and Burlington.
A systematic medication review I run before anyone accepts that the brain is the problem. Five concrete checks, asked in order, every time: Medication Burden, Errors & Duplication, Dose & Dynamics, Interactions & Illness, and Context.
I write columns for McKnight’s, post on my own site, and speak at conferences like the Southern Gerontological Society and NASW-NC. The throughline: how medications accumulate, how they get blamed too late, and how to catch the problem before it becomes a diagnosis.
Why some clients improve on memory screens once the medication list is reviewed.
Why appetite, fluids, and gait deserve fresh attention as these drugs reach older patients.
What actually happens to a discharge medication list once the patient gets home.
Quoted on the risks of polypharmacy in older adults and how families can push back.
Practical, plain-language notes on medication safety and senior care. No jargon, no spam.