PivotellAdvance Automatic Pill Dispenser with 24 Alarms - Enhanced Security & Advanced Technology Trusted by The NHS to Help Dementia, Alzheimer's & Elderly Patients to take Their Medication

I would highly recommend getting this pill dispenser if you need to do self medication management for a family member. Money well spent. I would also recommend getting the stand for the dispenser. It's an additional cost but makes the setup complete as an integrated system.Got this setup for my 93 year old mother with advancing dementia and some hand arthritis. Paying a monthly fee of $400-$500 USD to have her retirement facility provide medication management is a costly expense and quite bothersome. I was using weekly pill boxes until that became problematic with the timing of dosing, extra dosing and missed dosing. The Pivotell eliminates all those problems.After using the pill dispenser by itself for about two months, her biggest hang-up was not inverting the dispenser enough to turn the alarm off. She would get the pills, but not go any further at times. She would then stick her fingers in the pill opening trying to turn the alarm off and then trigger an error message and error alarm. That's my biggest complaint about the dispenser design. I wish it was more fool proof against this happening. Once the error alarm is set, it will continue to sound until it's reset, which means I have to make a special trip to reset it. If the alarm timed-out after a few minutes, that would be a better design.Adding in the stand has eliminated most operator problems. It took about a week for her to get the hang of using it. At first she wasn't pulling the lever all the way forward and hence the alarm wouldn't turn off.I'm in the US and there's an identical pill dispenser product from e-pill that's twice the cost. Both appear to be made from the same manufacturer in Sweden. The total cost was Pivotell in the UK was $139 USD. I opted for standard delivery and it took about two weeks to get the shipment. When I got the stand, I opted for express delivery and received that in a few days via DHL. I would recommend paying that extra fee to get it in a more reasonable time frame. Buy the stand at the same time if it's for an elderly person or if the person has any physical limitations in inverting the pill dispenser.

Bought this for my mother who has dementia. It works perfectly for the stage she is at just now, however we may have to rethink as her condition worsens in the future.This product replaces a similar (lookalike) unit we purchased for not much less money about eighteen months ago. We had nothing but trouble with that one breaking down, to the point where it was actually dangerous and so unreliable it caused me and my siblings constant concern.This unit is brilliant and so far works a dream. It also has some very good features - like it moves halfway to block the tablets coming out by jamming the little safety lid.It seems to me that the manufacturer has tried to cover all bases with this and it’s as advanced as I think it can be. It is also better built and more robust than our previous one.I must add that I feel some of the negative reviews are completely unfair and I believe the Pivotell is absolutely fit for purpose. If someone is determined to override a machine like this then they will. If someone wants to stick a spoon in it or remove the batteries or leave it upside down then they will. People with dementia are not stupid and do not lose their cunning, so some supervision is always going to be required. For us, this little gadget gives us real peace of mind. For now.

Updated review although I note my previous 3 star review wasn't published....Having used the machine for a few weeks now its proved reliable. Fairly easy to use but need to be used in our case with the tipper to prove effective. Negatives are its loud, the door mechanism can be easily broken so not for everyone but suitable for early stage Alzheimer's.

super, just advertised you can stop worrying about remembering when to take your pills, just set it up as the book tells you and for the next week you just tip your pill into your hand when reminded.

It was very difficult to help the person try to use the dispenser. With the tipper teaching the movement went well but it is hard to see the bowl under the tipper and the blue round logo on the tipper did not help at all as the subject thought this was the medication. Once left alone to use the device as suspected the beep is very alarming. It would be far, far better if the device could speak to the subject but while not quite as harsh it has the same urgency that induces anxiety. The subject discarded the device because it upset him.

Bought this for my mum who has early dementia memory issues. She was double dosing on her tablets. I had bought a cheaper version which did not work properly so returned it and bought this one. It is pretty straightforward to programme and has worked on time every time (3 times per day). It also has a screw on the battery compartment (mum tried to take the batteries out on the previous cheaper make, as it kept flashing low battery) which is useful. It also has survived mum banging it to try to get at the tablets when they aren’t due. The security mode is useful. The tablet compartment locks 2 minutes after the tablets are dispensed. It then moves half a compartment so she can see none on the left side (taken) and the next tablets due on the right side. This helps her confidence when she can see what’s coming next. You can set the alarm tone, in our case to something not too alarming. I would recommend this product, it has been a god send to us as I can now be confident about the tablets being taken.