SPONSORED: Ending the Epidemic
The caregiving journey often brings long hours, emotional conversations and overwhelmed feelings by the world around you. You want what’s best for your loved ones, but with the myriad of concerns fighting for your attention, it’s easy to neglect the importance of prescription management.
Taking proper care of your loved one can also mean needing to take proper care of your community. Arkansas currently writes more opioid prescriptions per person each year than anywhere else in the U.S., and in 2023 there were 510 fatal overdoses in the state.
Caregivers can play a major role in fighting the opioid epidemic with these three simple steps:
Monitor
As caregivers, it’s important to monitor our loved one’s prescriptions, dosages and medication expiration dates. Every caregiver has their own thorough system, but accidents can happen. A quick check-in might result in catching something you may have missed before.
Secure
Expired medication poses a risk to our loved ones and our communities. It’s important that you secure any unused medication in a locked cabinet, drawer or container that’s safe from children, pets, or individuals struggling with substance misuse.
Dispose
Never throw away any medication or flush its contents down a drain. Safe disposal of expired or unused medication can be done at over 280 Arkansas Take Back Boxes across Arkansas.Take Back Boxes ensure our water isn’t contaminated, pets aren’t poisoned and individuals are kept out of harm’s way.
The heart of a caregiver is a powerful force for good. Your actions against unused or expired medication can have a lasting effect on families across Arkansas, putting an end to substance addiction and loss. Join us in being caregivers for our homes, communities and our state. It’s time to put an end to the national epidemic.
For more information on how to secure, monitor and dispose of prescription medication, please visit ardrugtakeback.org.
