Best Medication Reminder Watches

On a daily basis nearly 40% of the American elderly take five or more prescribed drugs, loading up on a rainbow of colorful pills just to get by. And as the body gets older its biological threshold becomes lower, meaning that skipping a few occasions or overdosing could have lethal consequences. The pills must be also taken on a strict schedule to avoid negative side effects. Luckily there are clocks that remind users to take their medication, smartphone apps and other items all aimed at keeping the senior in the loop, but probably the most effective one is the medication reminder watch since it never leaves the wearer’s arm.

Med reminder watches often struggle against the reigning popularity of smartphones, since the core notification function can be easily replaced with a mobile application. It’s undeniably true that programming such an alarm is much easier on a touchscreen while fiddling with the little buttons on the watch is quite tedious. Alarm apps are more flexible in how they display custom messages, too, and reading them on a relatively larger screen also adds to the convenience. But on the other hand, seniors who are forgetful or suffer from hearing impairments may leave the phone in another room and miss the reminder entirely. The watch ‘sticks’ to their wrist at all times, ensuring they take their daily medicine no matter where they are.

If you’re aiming for complete peace of mind and want to ensure your beloved senior takes their daily dose, then combine medical alert watches with med dispensers. Despite some dispensers boasting notification functions, they are stationary and their sound won’t always reach the aging users. The same could be said about the alarm watches: products such as the MedCenter watch are only able to carry a few pills. However, med dispensers excel at housing a whole week’s worth of medicine in a tamper-proof lockbox, and will distribute them throughout the day. The wisest choice is to pair the two up: set the same date and times for the medical alert watch and the medication dispenser, so when the watch is activated, the pills are already dished out and ready to take.

Unfortunately, med reminder watches are only an answer for one issue threatening the independence of the elderly. There are other emergencies that may occur, such as falling, epilepsy or having a stroke. Also, despite the fact that the watch will set a reminder for the next dose, it doesn’t guarantee that the wearer will actually follow up on the action. In short, seniors need another safety net. Medical alert systems complement the watches in multiple ways: providers often sell pill dispensers alongside the base package, and the help button can be worn around the neck, so the elderly won’t find themselves in an awkward position of wearing more than one wristwatch at the same time.