Introduction and interview questions
John is a 69 years old patient. He has been suffering from diabetes mellitus for the last 12 years. He was interviewed at his home and he was asked on his understanding of his disease, and whether he understood what changes in his lifestyle it might cause. Despite John being old and feeble, we gather that he is aware of the nature of his illness. First of all, he understands that his condition is manageable. He assumed that proper medications and lifestyle modifications like diet, regular physical exercise and refusal from alcohol and cigarettes, which he has done over the years, were essential to support normal health condition. He is also aware that diabetes is a chronic and incurable condition, which requires the patient’s active involvement in effective management.
The second question was: What medication are you on and did your pharmacist help you understand why you need to use this medication, if yes, how, when, and under what conditions? From his answer, we found out that the patient was on insulin medication, and it was administered to him as injections. His insulin was administered 30 minutes before the meal, twice a day, to support a normal level of glucose in his blood. His pharmacist also advised him on how to use the drug and prevented him on what to expect, thus providing the patient with the necessary management and support.
How easily are you able to access your medication and pharmaceutical advice on the use of drugs? How would you describe your relationships with your pharmacist?
John says he has been lucky to have an easily access to his medication which he usually gets from his pharmacist after prescription. The patient sais that their relationships with pharmacist are characterized by confidentiality and trust. As a prove to this, the patient told about the case when he suffered from legal blindness, a chronic complication arising from diabetes, it was easily detected by his pharmacist who constantly monitored his blood glucose. John often addresses his pharmacist for an advise and feels well being understood by him.
Do you think your pharmacist is always willing and able to help you and advise you accordingly in any arising health condition? Have you ever had any severe drug reaction? The patient assumes that he is confident in the pharmaceutical care he receives. He suffered severe drug reaction in the past and which was detected by his pharmacist who referred him to his doctor for further advice and tests.
Do you think there is room for more to be done by your pharmacist to be able to effectively help you deal with your situation and improve the quality of your life? He says that he is satisfied with the services he gets from both, his doctor and pharmacist.
Are you comfortable using modern technology in drug administration and in general health care? Do you think it has helped /not helped in the improvement on the quality of life in your situation? Although the patient is not doing well with modern technology, he appreciates what has been done to improve the quality of life of persons with chronic illnesses. He assumes that on his part, it has made blood glucose tests easier. He also appreciates the twelve years management of the disease and constant pharmaceutical care offered by his pharmacist and doctor.
How has your experience going to the pharmacy changed over the years? John visits the pharmacy quite frequent. He goes there to get his blood glucose level checked. He also goes to fetch his drugs and get consultations from the pharmacist on any complications arising. When asked him how he would rate the services of his pharmacist and the health care service he received in helping him cope with his situation over the last 12 years, John says he would not have made it without the pharmaceutical care he has been receiving during the years. He is grateful that he has been able to mage the situation.
Communication skills
John first demanded to know the purpose of the interview. He also asserted that he would only be comfortable to carry out this exercise at home. His hearing was impaired and thus questions had to be repeated for him to understand them clearly. We have managed to overcome these obstacles while providing the patent with the introductions and purposes of the interview. The interview was conducted at his home, thus creating an environment where the interviewee felt comfortable and could talk freely. A hearing aid was used to assist the process of communication, and a lot of patience was practiced due to his dragged speech.
Findings, lesson application and what needs to be done
Several lessons were drawn from this interview. First of all, pharmacists play a significant role, being an interface between the prescribers and the patients. Their general role is to improve the quality of life of all patients, including the elderly who often suffer from many chronic diseases. These days, the pharmacists have activities that require full application of their knowledge and skills. Their new role involves being able to make recommendations, avoid drug interactions, give patients pharmaceutical advise, monitor drug treatment among other services. (Barber, Smith, &Anderson, 1994).
This new role of pharmacist has arisen due to the changing demands of the public, increasing need of the society for quality healthcare, changes in the healthcare objectives and changes in health care service delivery. It has also stemmed from the long lasting and distinguishing history pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical services in the society. This has created confidence in their services (Barber, Smith & Anderson, 1994).
In the recent year, the profession of a pharmacist has become more patient oriented. They provide counseling services to the patients regarding their conditions, prescribed medications, and lifestyle modifications. This is aimed at getting positive therapeutic results in elderly patients, as well as all patients in general. Pharmacist today counsel patients addressing both, non -pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical measures that may improve the quality of patients’ life (Daniela 2011).
Positive outcomes of quality pharmaceutical care are achieved through the elimination or reduction of the symptoms of the disease. Patient counseling is of a paramount importance for achieving pharmaceutical care which is the provision of medication related information. This information can be provided orally or in a written form. It should concern the usage, side effects, storage, recommended diet, precautions and lifestyle modifications that suit the ailment and which ensure drug efficiency. This patient counseling is interactive in nature and therefore helps asses whether the information provided has positive therapeutic effect (Calvin &Penna, 2002).
According to (Cipolle, Strand, & Morley, 2004), the activities undertaken by pharmacist help make the use of medication easier. This is by providing education on drug, explaining monitoring devise, screening drug interactions, making recommendation which generally improves patient’s life and reduces complications. These activities help control the disease, keep track of it during contact, and provide further information to patients during contact. It thus helps them gain clarity on their conditions. The role of a pharmacist in monitoring patient progress stands out in Johns case when his pharmacist was able to detect that he had legal blindness, which is a chronic complication arising from diabetes.
However, after interviewing the elderly people, one realizes that old people often feel useless in the modem society. This has created a tendency of neglecting their mental and physical needs, which leads to deteriorating health conditions. This therefore raises concern that the elderly people need to be attended constantly monitored. The recent clinical studies, medical commentaries and surveys among others, indicate that old people rarely receive preventive care, and are often ignored or excluded from medical trials even when it can result into tremendous improvements in their health. They are also less likely to be tested or screened for disease and their medical interventions are often ignored, and dismissed as simple old age complications (Barber, Smith and Anderson, 1994).
From these findings we realize that effective teamwork of health professionals and pharmacists is important for the safe and effective delivery of health care. Responsible provision of drug therapy achieves a definite outcome that is the improvement of the life of the patients. The elderly require greater health attention as they are often ill, which is often attributed to old age even when sometimes it is an actual disease. In the modern society, old age is seen as a disease itself and this perception has led to misdiagnosing of the old people. The practice of pharmaceutical, care which is paramount for every pharmacist to practice, may not only improve the quality of life of patients, but also improve general health care services. The pharmacist should take it upon themselves to help the elderly and other patients improve the quality of their lives (Calvin & Penna 2002)
Conclusion
Old people need a lot of training to improve their perception of pharmacy, services of pharmacists, and general health care. Health professional can do this by paying more attention to these people and thus diagnose them correctly. This would restore their confidence in the ability of these professionals to help them. Pharmaceutical care greatly complements the doctor’s work in improving the general quality of life of the patients. Despite tremendous improvement in the services provided by pharmacists, that is intergrading pharmaceutical care in their services, a lot has to be done when it come to dealing with the elderly people who need a lot of counseling to be able to cope with the arising complications associated with old age.
References
Barber N, K., Smith, F., B &Anderson, S. (1994). Improving quality of health care: the role of pharmacists. Qual Health Care, 3(3), 153–158.
Calvin, H. K. & Penna R. P. (2002). Pharmaceutical care. 2nd ed. Bethesda: ASHP.
Cipolle, R, J., Strand, L. M, & Morley, P. C. (2004). Pharmaceutical care practice: The clinician’s guide. New York: McGraw & Hill, Medical Pub. Division.
Danielia, D. (2011). A to Z: How to Break into the Pharmaceutical Industry. Createspace.