Caregiver guide
Medication list template for elderly parents
October 2026 · KoraCommand
Why one list matters
Every ER visit, every new doctor, every pharmacy refill starts with the same question: “What does she take?” A family that can answer it in one accurate page gets better care, faster. A family that cannot watches the start of the appointment go to reconstructing it from memory, and memory is where dosage mistakes live.
The list matters most on the hard days. A hospital stay ends with new prescriptions, stopped ones and changed doses, often all on the same afternoon; the hospital discharge checklist walks through that day. The medication list is the page you check the discharge papers against.
What goes on the list
For every medication, write down seven things:
- Brand and generic name. The bottle says one, the discharge papers say the other, and the list says both.
- Dose. The number on the current bottle, not the one from the spring.
- Schedule. Morning, evening, with food, as needed: when and how often.
- Prescriber. Which doctor started it, so the next doctor knows who to call.
- Pharmacy. Where it is filled, with the phone number.
- Start date. New medications explain new symptoms more often than anything else.
- Side effects being watched. What the doctor said to look out for, in plain words.
Include over-the-counter drugs and supplements. They interact with prescriptions, and doctors and pharmacists need the full picture. If she takes it regularly, it goes on the list, fish oil and sleep aids included.
The template
One page per person. Write her name, her allergies and the date you last updated the page at the top. Print it, keep one copy on the fridge and one in the bag that goes to appointments. When anything changes, update the master and reprint. Never keep two versions in circulation: if the bottle changed, the list changes the same day, and the old copies go in the bin.
Fields per row:
Name: __________________ Allergies: __________________ Updated: __________
| Medication (brand + generic) | |
|---|---|
| Dose | |
| When | |
| Prescriber | |
| Pharmacy | |
| Started | |
| Notes / side effects watched |
Print this page and the table comes out as a blank sheet to fill in by hand. Add rows as you need them.
The mistakes families make
- Two lists that do not match. Mom has one, the daughter has another, and the doctor is handed both.
- Outdated doses. The list says one number; the bottle has said another since March.
- Supplements forgotten. “Oh, the fish oil? That's not really medicine.” It counts, and the pharmacist wants to know.
- Nobody owns updates. Everyone assumes someone else fixed the list after the last visit, so nobody did.
The fix for all four is the same: one owner for the master copy, and a list the whole family can see.
How Kora keeps it current
Record the visit, with the doctor's permission (the recording guide covers how to ask), and Kora's debrief flags every medication change on its own line: what changed, what the doctor said about it, what to watch. Nothing moves on the plan until the family says yes.
The family sees the same updated list, nobody rewrites anything by hand, and the next appointment starts with the truth instead of a guessing game. Nothing in the debrief is medical advice. Kora reports what was said; the doctor decides what it means.
Questions families ask
What should be on a medication list for an elderly parent?
For every medication: the brand and generic name, the dose, when she takes it, who prescribed it, which pharmacy fills it, when it started, and the side effects being watched. Over-the-counter drugs and supplements go on the same list, because they interact with prescriptions.
Should I include over-the-counter drugs and supplements?
Yes. Doctors and pharmacists need the full picture, and over-the-counter drugs and supplements interact with prescriptions. If she takes it regularly, it goes on the list, fish oil and sleep aids included.
How often should the medication list be updated?
After every appointment where anything changes, and the same day a dose is adjusted or a drug is started or stopped. The rule is simple: if the bottle changed, the list changes. Kora flags every medication change in the visit debrief, so the family is not relying on memory.
Who should keep the master copy?
One person owns the master and the whole family can see it. When anything changes, that person updates the master, reprints it, and throws out the old copies. One owner with shared visibility is what keeps two lists from happening.
What do ER doctors need from a medication list?
Current drug names, doses and schedules on one page, with her allergies at the top, so nobody has to hunt. In an emergency, the question is asked once and answered once, and the care that follows is built on an accurate list instead of a guess.