Windtrace Automatic Pill Dispenser for Elderly, Electronic Monthly Pill Organizer with Alarm & Light, 28 Day Smart Lock Medication Dispenser, Timed Pill Dispenser Machine for Prescriptions & Vitamins

Life saver, good product for someone who needs to take care of an older person and can't take care of their pills on hourly bases. A little hard to set up so the older person can't do that on their own, but I can do it as a caregiver.

Overall positive experience after several months, but let me start with the drawbacks: 1) First of all, let me say that I'm in tech. I'm a thirtysomething software developer at a prestigious company. Why is this relevant and not some random brag? Because setting the timer or changing the time on this thing is confusing. (Notice how this review is right after daylight savings time? There's a reason I'm just now getting around to the review...). If a tech person needs to look at the instructions, so will you / your dependent. The instructions are clear, just take a picture of them and put them in your favorites on your phone so when daylight savings rolls around or your routine changes, you'll know what to do. The instructions are probably online somewhere, and of course you can save the piece of paper, but taking a picture of them will probably be your best bet. 2) At one point, this was stored upside down and a tiny pill got lodged in a spot that prevented the wheel from fully rotating, and the mechanism wasn't perfectly aligned after that for several weeks. I don't know why, and honestly, I don't know what fixed it. Maybe I hit the next button enough times? I *think* it's aligned again, but it's weird that it didn't click back into place right away. 3) this thing beeps once every couple of minutes for about an hour and then stops. if you're out of the house during that time, you'll need to remember to take it. 4) it only has 28 days. Why not make it a whole month's worth? Why make us hang on to a couple of extra pills in a bunch of different bottles? I would improve it by - allowing 31 days of medication - connecting to your phone so you can snooze it if you're not around - fixing the weird rotation issue I experienced - making the UI easier to work with, or even printing the instructions on the back. Okay, done with the bad. On with the good. 1) I very rarely have to refill this! It's so much better than a one week organizer 2) I can easily check to see if I've taken it already because if there are pills in the most recent divot, then it's time 3) It's easy to look back and see how many times I've forgotten to take my medicine over the last month 4) I love how I only have to open one lid to refill it. 7 day organizers are really annoying in that regard 5) This thing is so persistent, I HAVE to attend to it if i'm home. The only downside is that if I'm not home, my partner will flip it over and I might forget about it (and leave it flipped, possibly causing a tiny pill to jam it). 6) after several months I can feel what my medicine is supposed to feel like when I take it CONSISTENTLY. It's a huge difference, wow. Overall advice: I don't know if this exact one is the best, but it's a huge upgrade from where I was, and this felt like a splurge. If this broke tomorrow, I would replace it with something similar ASAP. If you have a lot of medicines, this makes taking all of them easier.

Family member has dementia and we can’t have someone home 24/7. We got this and programmed it for his medication times. Then we got a WiFi lightbulb and set it to flash at the same time this does. Between the flashes and beeps, the setup is extremely effective to get him to take his medication at the right time. Knowing that he can only take the proper medication at the right time allows us all some peace of mind.

My mom has mild frontal temporal dementia and I needed a way to make sure she takes her pills without making her embarrassed that I have to dole them out for her. We tried this out and it's been pretty good so far. I set a 6:30am alarm for her first pill that she takes before I'm up and around, and an 8:30pm alarm for her bedtime pills. I look once a day to make sure she hasn't skipped doses. The alarm helps her keep on track. I wish there were more configuration options for the alarm. It would be nice to be able to skip the audible alarm without clearing the whole alarm and having to re-program it. It did take her a few days to learn how to open it on her own (I mean, she has progressive neurocognitive degeneration, so the fact that she learned something new at all is a bit of a miracle). Another thing I would improve on this would be a less obvious opening mechanism. Sometimes she gets too eager and opens the lid. I don't want her to be able to open the lid. I feel like that should be a bit more secure. She saw me filling it and thought that's how you're supposed to use it (which we've now corrected enough times for it to stick, thankfully). The visiting nurses that have come by have all been impressed by this thing and say they're going to recommend it for their other patients.

Of course. after I've had and used this item for 7 months, it is only now that I can share my honest opinion. I thought this was a great idea. However, out of nowhere my wheel no longer turns on its own. I have to open it up, put the wheel in slot position, close it, and take the pills out myself. It doesn't make sense. I've never dropped it so I'm not sure why it refuses to turn anymore. It's very disappointing and too expensive to replace and now the return option has passed! Just beware.