Interview

For the past year, nurse Cristina Wikman and a few of her colleagues at the Daljunkaregården nursing home in Falun have been trying out the Schine Pill Box L alongside more traditional pill organisers.
“I always try to ‘snatch up’ the Schine boxes when they’re available, because they’re so easy to use,”she says.

Located in central Falun, Daljunkargården is a privately run residential care facility with 41 flats. The elderly residents all have significant nursing needs, and most also require many different medicines. Traditionally, the residents’ tablets are provided in single-dose packets directly from the pharmacy.
“It’s when someone gets a new medicine, tries out a different dosage or needs to take antibiotics that the pill organisers come into the picture,” Cristina explains.

Hygienic, safe and easy to fill
Cristina sits down at a table in the staff kitchen and opens the box from Schine to show us how easy it is to fill. Out in the lobby, some of her colleagues are setting up an array of coffee and buns to celebrate the facility’s 10th anniversary.
“I don’t have to open multiple sliding covers to fill the box with new medicine,” Cristina explains. “I simply open the lid and access the inner box with all its compartments, and I can also easily remove it from the case.”
Another aspect she loves is the soft roller shutter system with just the right resistance. The shutters don’t fit too tightly or too loosely, making it easy to access the pills while not opening the case too far, or accidentally.
“With traditional pill organisers, it’s easy for pills to fall out of their compartments if your hands tremble a bit. The roller shutter system prevents accidents like that.”
Because the boxes are constantly circulating between the residents’ and the staff’s hands, hygiene is also an important aspect. Multi-resistant bacteria have become an increasing problem in health care, and during periods when infectious diseases are abundant, it’s more important than ever to be able to wash things in the dishwasher, Cristina points out.
“We’ve tried machine washing other pill organisers, and they came out crooked and hard to use. Washing them manually takes precious time and the result isn’t good enough to ensure good hygiene.”

Clear and logical
Cristina turns the Schine box over in her hand, where it fits neatly.
“It feels sturdy without being clumsy,” she says. “And it’s nice looking, too, not cheap imported plastic. You can see and feel that it’s good quality.”
Schine’s Pill Box is also clear and logical. It has a plastic pocket on the bottom that can be used to label it or to insert a dosage card.
“Here at Daljunkaregården, we use a template from the municipality, which we insert in the plastic pocket to make sure that the person distributing medicines can see that they have the right type of tablets and the right number in every compartment,” Cristina explains.
“The symbols next to the compartments indicating morning, day, evening and night are also logical and universal.”

The Schine range also includes the Pill Popper device,
• which makes it easy to remove pills from their blister packs even for patients with weakened hands or fingers.
• The pill ends up in the right compartment.
• Hygienic – you don’t have to touch the tablets with your hands.
• Tolerates rubbing alcohol and is dishwasher safe, contributing to good hygiene and reducing the risk of contagions.
• Ergonomic and certified “Easy to Use” by the Swedish Rheumatism Association.

Schine’s Pill Box also comes in a smaller size (small) with eight compartments – perfect for weekend trips.