The likelihood of having multiple chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension or arthritis and obesity, increases with age. As a result, many older adults require multiple medications to manage these conditions throughout the day.
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In addition to requiring multiple medications, aging and age-related diseases can also affect mental health and memory, making it challenging for older adults to remember how to take their medications correctly. This is especially difficult when they need to manage multiple medications with different dosages and schedules.
Pill dispensers not only help store all the medications safely in one place but can also help with accurate dosing at the right time. There are various types of pill dispensers that come with customizable features, which help with medication adherence for older adults.
In this blog, we will discuss different types of pill dispensers and their benefits to help you determine the best pill dispenser for your needs.
What Is a Pill Dispenser?
A pill dispenser, also known as a medication dispenser, is a tool or device that contains multiple compartments to store and organize several doses of medications according to their time of intake.
Pill dispensers come with various features and types, allowing users to purchase the one that matches their needs and preferences.
For example, automatic pill dispensers are a type of medication dispenser that dispenses the proper medications at the scheduled times. Similarly, some pill dispensers feature medication reminders, alerting the patients to take their medications using an alarm.
3 Major Types of Pill Dispensers
The following are the three common types of pill dispensers:
- Manual pill boxes with compartments
- Smart pill dispensers
- Automatic pill dispenser
1. Manual Pill Boxes With Compartments
Manual pill boxes are medicine boxes that contain small sections or compartments labeled with days of the week. These are the simplest and most affordable type of pill boxes and can also come in variations that have different sections for day and night, often labeled as A.M. and P.M. Other pill boxes may be more complex and have compartments for the entire month.
Patients can purchase the pill box that suits their needs and medication requirements. The most important consideration for manual pill boxes is that they will need to be regularly filled. If an older individual is not able to fill these boxes accurately, it is important to have assistance from a family member, friend, caregiver, or medical professional to fill the boxes appropriately so that seniors take their medications correctly.
2. Smart Pill Dispensers
A smart pill dispenser stores and organizes medications according to their scheduled time and automatically dispenses the proper medications at their accurate dose with the touch of a button. It is also designed to remind the user and their selected contacts digitally through a phone app.
Smart pill dispensers also need to be routinely filled and can sometimes have electronic setup requirements that might be challenging for some older individuals. Similar to manual pill boxes, smart pill dispensers need to be routinely filled and electronically set to be accurate.
3. Automatic Pill Dispensers
Like smart pill dispensers, automatic dispensers also store, remind, and dispense medications at the correct time with the touch of a button. The major difference between both types is that smart pill dispensers connect to mobile apps for reminders and data tracking, while automatic pill dispensers rely on alarms for medication reminders.
Similar to smart pill dispensers, automatic pill dispensers need to be routinely filled and require some electronic setup to be accurate.
Best Pill Dispensers for the Elderly
The choice of the best pill dispenser for the elderly depends on various factors and may vary from person to person, depending on their needs. The factors include:
- The number of medications the patient takes
- Whether they use one or multiple types of medications
- The user’s physical and mental ability to process, understand, remember, hear, and see things
- Whether the users are tech-savvy or have support from those that can assist with technical and physical setup of dispensers.
Overall, automatic medication dispensers are the best for many seniors as they allow ease of use, medication reminders, and automatic dispensing of the correct drugs. However, seniors that are not tech-savvy may need assistance to routinely fill and set dispensers to accurately dispense medications at the correct times.
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Some reliable pill dispensers for the elderly include:
Hero Smart Dispenser
This is a type of smart pill dispenser that features both an alert system and a mobile medication reminder.
Once they receive an alert, patients only need to press a button, and the device will dispense the medications at the correct dose.
Hero smart dispenser allows you to store ten medications in separate compartments for up to a 90-day supply. This dispenser does require refilling and setting up the dispenser, and is most useful for seniors who have caregivers that can set up the dispenser. The benefit of this dispenser is that it keeps track of all medications and the information can be shared with doctors.
The most challenging aspect of the hero smart dispenser is that it cannot be purchased and the rental fee is quite expensive at a $100 initiation fee and monthly fee of $24.99 with a one-year commitment.
Med-E-Lert
Med-E-Alert is another automatic pill dispenser that contains 28 separate compartments for storing medications. It is a battery-operated device that programs up to 6 scheduled alarms per day for giving medication reminders.
When the alarm goes off, the device unlocks automatically, and the patient will need to tilt the dispenser and take the medications into their hands. The system is small and portable and quite cost effective and can usually be purchased for under $100.
Some challenges of the Med-E-Lert is that it can be quite challenging to set up, but once it is set up, users say that it is easy to use and helpful for medication adherence. Some also argue that the battery life is not great but as a system that uses double A batteries, an easy solution would be to ensure that spare batteries are always available.
Medacube
Medacube features the capacity to hold a 90-day drug supply and stores up to 16 different medications. It alerts the patient with an alarm at the time of drug intake and sends additional reminders through text messages and emails if any dose is missed.
Similar to Hero, Medacube is an excellent option to allow caregivers to schedule medications easily for seniors. It can be set to give notifications to caregivers for when doses are missed or in low supply, while giving the senior notifications only as reminders to take medications.
The Medacube is quite large and thus not suitable for travel. It also is very expensive with a $1,399 price point, but users say that the reliability of the system and the customer service and technical support offered by the company more than justifies the price point.
About the Author
Reviewed by Dr. Ryo Sanabria
Dr. Ryo Sanabria, PhD, was born and raised in New York. They received a B.A. and M.A. in biotechnology from CUNY Hunter College, and an M.A., M.Phil., and PhD in Nutrition and Metabolic Sciences from Columbia University. Dr. Sanabria is a professor who currently teaches at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. Their areas of expertise include gerontology, cell biology, molecular biology, genetics, and nutrition. They are the recipient of many awards and grants and have authored numerous research papers. The most rewarding part of their work is training and mentoring new scientists. Dr. Sanabria is an avid fitness enthusiast, and in their free time, they enjoy marathon running and weight-lifting. Dr. Sanabria's pronouns are they/them/their.
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