The MedDispenser Improving Medication Compliance for the Elderly Group: Ashley Hammann Darnita Mims Connie Saelzler Annie Suarez Advisor: Richard Fries, Datex Ohmeda

The Elderly and Medication Regime Adherence When a patient is asked to take a medication 3 or more times a day, less than 50% of patients can comply with those instructions. The more medications added to a patient’s therapy, the lower the chance of a patient taking all the medications correctly.

Need for a Device In order to improve the efficacy of medication regimes, medication must be taken: At the correct times In the correct dosages According to pharmacist advice Therefore, a medication dispenser with the ability to ensure medication is taken correctly is needed.

Purpose The MedDispenser will: Dispense the correct medications at the correct time in the correct dosages In order to avoid over- dosages, forgetfulness, and drug side effects from incorrectly following pharmacist’s and doctor’s directions

Proposed Design Each medication will be distributed into separate slots of a container The prescription definition will be saved in the device’s memory The correct medication and dosage will be dispensed at the correct time Each prescription type will be allotted a separate level in the tower

Past Work Creation and distribution of a Potential Customer Survey Creation and distribution of a Health Care Provider Survey Meeting with Philip E. Johnston, Pharm. D. at the Department of Pharmaceutical Services at VUH

Current Work Collection of both surveys Compilation of Data from surveys Further research into more concrete design specifications

Future Work Design specifications will be defined Computer model including user interface A critique by healthcare providers An actual prototype of the device