Karen: Adjusting to multiple medicines – Adapting to loss of freedom, independence and capacity
Listen to patients and health professionals speak about their experience with taking multiple medicines.
Karen
Female
Age at interview: 37
Number of medicines: 8
Cultural background: Anglo-Australian
Karen’s medicines limit unplanned overnight stays. She does, however, sometimes use this to her advantage.
I can't afford an overseas trip any more, spending all this money on treatments and stuff, but the thought of a plane trip and all that sitting, it's just not going to happen. It just ... it just takes a lot more planning and there's no spontaneously staying the night at someone's ... there's no spontaneously, ‘Look I'll crash at your place and go home tomorrow,’ kind of thing. No, it's ‘I'll go home.’ I've used not having my medication as an excuse not to stay for dinner with my parents a number of times. [laughs] ‘Stay for dinner!’ ‘No, I don't have my meds. I have to go home.’ [laughs] I will confess it was an excuse not to stay.
The Living with multiple medicines project was developed in collaboration with Healthtalk Australia.