Drug-Share

Development and evaluation of Family Health Record “Drug-Share”

 In recent years, polypharmacy and drug adherence has become a problem among elderly people. Duplicate medications in the case of visiting multiple medical institutions might cause side effects and adversely affect the health of the elderly. Although many electronic medicine notebook apps have been developed to solve those problems, there is a problem that they are complicated and difficult to use for elderly people because of their multi-functionality.

 We have developed a medication assistance system that utilizes existing information and communication technology so that elderly people living in remote areas and their families can use the medication with peace of mind. Based on the concept that the family watches over the elderly living apart, we implemented a function to prevent the elderly from forgetting to take medicine and a function to share prescription information with the family and considered its usefulness.

 From the viewpoint of ease of use for the elderly and of information sharing with family members, using the LINE Official Account and intelligent virtual assistant, we have implemented a function to expand and manage prescription information from a QR code, a function to share medication information, and a function to link the drug to the drug information on a reliable website so that the family can check the details such as efficacy. In addition, as a function to prevent elderly people from forgetting to take medicine, we have implemented a function to notify the time of taking medicine using a smart speaker and a function to record the completion of taking medicine and blood pressure by voice.

 By expanding the prescription information on the calendar, families living far away can easily check the medication status of the elderly and the details of the medications. In addition, since elderly people can use the functions by voice operation with smart speakers, we were able to realize specifications that are easy for elderly people to use. The medication assistance system using information and communication technology has eliminated the anxiety of the elderly and their families about medication, and has produced practical and useful results.

 As the number of elderly people living alone increases, the anxiety and problems of elderly people taking medication will continue to increase. It is hoped that the existing information and communication technology will be utilized to develop and disseminate a medication support system that is easy for anyone to use.