Home health care

Each day, millions of people rely on over-the-counter (OTC) medicines. With more than 100,000 OTC products available, consumers have numerous options for treating mild illness conditions conveniently and economically.

Your responsibility

You are not only responsible for your own health but as parents and caregivers you are in charge of your children’s health as well. Many people rely on OTC oral cough, cold and other medicines to help themselves and their children feel better when they are sick.

Over-the-counter-medicines

OTC medicine products are those that are available to consumers without a prescription. There are medical overseers to ensure that OTC medicines are properly labelled and that their benefits outweigh their risks.

There are more than 80 therapeutic categories of OTC medicines available, ranging from acne medicine products to weight control products. OTC medicines play an increasingly vital role in South Africa’s health care system to treat a wide range of symptoms, such as allergies, headache, and an upset stomach.

OTC medicines generally have the following characteristics:

• • Their benefits outweigh their risks

• • The potential for misuse and abuse is low

• • Consumers can use them for self-diagnosed conditions

• • They are adequately labelled

• • Health practitioners are not needed for the safe and effective use of the product.

What to keep in your medicine chest

All responsible parents and caregivers should keep a good equipped medicine chest in their homes or with them when on vacation. The following is a list of the most basic OTC medicines:

• • Antihistamine for allergies

• • Decongestant for colds

• • Suppressant and expectorant for cough

• • Protectant for diaper rash

• • Anti-diarrhoeal for diarrhoea

• • Lubricating cream for dry skin

• • Anti-acid for heart burn

• • Hydrocortisone for itching

• • Aspirin, ibuprofen, paracetamol or naproxen for pain, fever and inflammation

• • Syrup of ipecac for poisoning

• • Antibiotic ointment for scrapes, wounds and skin infections.

Self-care tools

Self-care tools that are useful to have at home include the following:

• • Cold pack

• • Dental mirror

• • Eyedropper

• • Heating pad

• • Medicine spoon

• • Nail clippers

• • Penlight

• • Scissors

• • Thermometer

• • Tweezers.

Make sure that you are always ready for those little unforeseen emergencies at home.

Our Employee Wellbeing Programme (EWP) is available 24 hours a day if you want to know more about home health care.