E-DRUG: Pharmcists' Counselling (cont)
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Dear Mr. Green,
I may not have research to show the effectiveness of Pharmacists'
Patient counselling. However, Pharmacists' Patient counselling
in my opinion is an integral part of Pharmacy Practice.
The Community Pharmacists probably encounter the greatest diversity
of patient types, each of whom has distinct and individual needs.
A common patient type seen by Pharmacists among others comprises
persons with health problems for which they want assistance in self
medication. The Pharmacist is expected to listen patiently and
sympathetically, to analyze and explain the nature of the difficulty, and
to recommend a course of palliative action.
The palliative action may be dangerous if not poisonous unless coupled
with counseling with the relevant information on:
- How to take the medicine
- Effects and possible side effects
- How the effects of the medicine should be monitored
- Possible interaction
- Precautions and warnings
- Duration of use and when to seek help from other members of the
healthcare system.
Your argument may be that this information is freely available in the
product inserts and may in some cases be obtained from internet by the
patient.
Sorry we do not enjoy this luxury in Kenya as we are still trying to stump
out illiteracy and our only tool to the patient's benefit is our
knowledge translated into spoken word that the patient understands and
appreciates.
The Pharmacist's knowledge, availability and accessibility to the
community in Kenya places him at the focal point in patient counseling.
We may not have hard data on its effectiveness. All we know patient
counselling is a major component in our practice. We do it every minute,
every hour and every day.
Dr. Eric Achoki
Kenya Drug Education Programme
P.O BOX 62547 Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254-2-726624
Fax: +254-2-721268
Email: kdep@ken.healthnet.or.ke
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