Ellis / Guides
When the pharmacy’s phone system defeats an older parent
Press one for refills, then enter your prescription number followed by the pound key. For a person with hearing loss, a tremor, or simply a dislike of being hurried, that sentence is the end of the call.
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The line is the problem, not the person
A phone menu is built on assumptions: that the caller heard all the options, has the number to hand, can key it in before the system moves on, and will wait on hold. Each of those is harder with age and none of them is the caller’s fault. Treating the call as something your parent should be able to manage is how everybody ends up frustrated.
Skip the menu
- Ask the pharmacist for the store’s direct number rather than the chain’s central line, and for the quietest hours to call it
- On many systems, staying silent or pressing zero reaches a person
- Ask whether the pharmacy takes refill requests by text or through its own app, and set that up on your parent’s behalf with their agreement
- Ask whether a family member can be noted on the account as someone who may request refills — the pharmacy will say what they need for that
Remove the reason to call
Most refill calls exist because refills are unpredictable. Synchronising them to one date, putting the regular ones on automatic refill and arranging delivery turns a monthly negotiation with a phone menu into a delivery that simply arrives.
Let them keep the call, differently
Some parents want to make the call themselves, and that is worth keeping. A card by the phone in large print — the direct number, each prescription number, the words to say — makes the call possible again. So does a two-step: they ring you, you ring the pharmacy. They are still the one who asked.