Home Instead Senior Care’s Mission Medicine Will Help Protect Local Seniors by Disposing of Old Meds
The South Puget Sound office of Home Instead Senior Care has scheduled Mission MedicineSM Saturday, August 6th from 11AM – 2PM to help seniors dispose of expired or no longer used medications. The event, co-sponsored by Providence SoundHomeCare & Hospice, will be held at Kirk’s CHS Home Medical on Martin Way, in Lacey.
Seniors or their family members can simply drive up to the location where the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office will be on hand to oversee the drop-off of medications into a locked container. After the event, the medications collected will be properly disposed.
“This program is a way to help protect seniors from accidentally using expired medications as well as safeguarding them from the potential for theft of medications from their homes,” said Kelly Cavenah of the Home Instead Senior Care local office. “The project also can help protect the environment including pets and other animals by providing a safe way to dispose of prescription drugs before they are introduced into landfills or the water supply,” said Judy Datsko, Community Liaison Nurse with Providence SoundHomeCare & Hospice.
The average senior takes four to six different prescriptions a day and refills their prescriptions 12 to 17 times a year, according to the health-care company Arcadia Healthcare. Furthermore, 28 percent of geriatric hospitalizations are attributed to adverse reactions, the group said.
In conjunction with law enforcement agencies, Home Instead Senior Care franchise owners plan to launch Mission Medicine throughout North America.
“Considering such a significant impact on seniors and society, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office considers our donation of time for the project an important community service,” said Sergeant Ken Clark. After the medications are collected, they will be weighed by the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office before they are destroyed.
Home Instead Senior Care’s Mission Medicine is a program of Home Instead Senior Care. For more information about the project, contact Kelly Cavenah at 360.570.0049 To learn more about Home Instead Senior Care, log on to www.homeinstead.com.
