<p>Jmmom, this is great advice for anyone in a hospital or health care facility, regardless of age, and for anyone taking more than one prescription. Drug interaction is a major issue in elder health care and can be responsible for personality changes, decreased appetite and activity levels, decreased efficacy of individual drugs, etc. If you have an elderly loved one on many medications, especially one who sees different specialists, you might want to have his/her pharmacist or internist do an evaluation of all the prescriptions in his/her regimen - just put 'em all in a paper bag and bring 'em in. Our senior center periodically has a “brown bag day” - people bring in their prescription bottles and a visiting pharmacist notes potential incompatibilities, suggests questions for the primary physician, etc.</p>
<p>patient, each of my grandmas has lived in a senior facility renovated from an older elementary school. I am pretty oblivious about physical surroundings (which has enabled me to live contentedly with my particular children), but I think these facilities look and feel very comfortable. They provide a sense of “being in the neighborhood,” features like hardwood floors, lots of windows, wide hallways, etc. Recycling older school buildings into senior residences is pretty common around here.</p>