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MEDS for Me

MEDS for Me (Make Every Dose Simple for Me) helps St. Jude patients and families manage medicines, stay on schedule, and overcome barriers for safer, more effective treatment.

pharmacist in consult room holding medication bottle

MEDS for Me helps patients and caregivers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital deal with things that make taking medicine hard. 

Medication adherence is taking medicines as prescribed. This includes: 

  • Follow instructions for taking their medicine  
  • Take their medicine at the right time 
  • Take every dose and not skip 
  • Ask their health care team when they are not sure how to take a medicine 

Taking medicines may help patients have: 

  • Better treatment results 
  • Fewer problems 
  • A lower risk of getting sick again 

Many factors can make it hard for patients to take medicines. But not taking medicines, or taking them at the wrong time, can cause problems. It may be dangerous and can make treatments not work as well.  

Tiffany Nason

“As part of the health care team, one of our main jobs is to talk with patients and their caregivers about why their medicines are important, find out how we can make it easier for them to take their medications, and explain how to use them safely at home.”

- Tiffany Nason, PharmD

Services we provide

Managing medicines can be hard. We can help patients organize medicines and remember each dose. Resources we use include:

  • Alarms: Help remind you when it is time for each dose
  • Calendars: Allow you to track doses each day and plan ahead
  • Color coding: Makes it easier to distinguish medicines by time or type
  • Pillboxes: Keep daily doses organized by time and day of the week
  • Pillbox keychains: Offer a portable way to carry and remember a dose when away from home
  • Smartphone apps: Send reminders, track doses, and give alerts if a dose is missed

We can also help patients with:

  • Understanding their medicine and why it is important
  • Labels and instructions in their preferred language
  • Changes to how medicine is made or taken
  • Managing side effects

We can help patients when medicines taste bad or seem confusing. We can also help patients:

By working together, we can help make sure patients get the best results from their treatment.

Your MEDS for Me team

The MEDS for Me team is led by the patient’s primary care team. This team includes many specially trained care providers from other departments, including:

What to expect from your MEDS for Me team

Our team works together to make a plan that is right for each patient. Before or during some of your clinic visits, we may ask you about:

  • The medicines you are taking and how you take them
  • Things that make it hard to take medicine
  • Any worries you have about your medicine

Your care team will talk with you about ways to make all of this easier. They may also suggest resources that can help meet specific needs.

MEDS for Me is being piloted in select clinics. Contact your care team to see if MEDS for Me is available for you.

Learn more