Society publishes expert patient report
A report exploring the concept of the expert patient has been published by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
“Perspectives on the expert patient” is based on a seminar
organised by the Society’s policy development unit and held at
the Society’s
Lambeth headquarters on 19 May 2003 (PJ, 31 May 2003, p743). The seminar
looked at the definition of an expert patient, how expert patients could
benefit other patients and professionals, how the concept of the expert
patient applied in the arena of pharmacy and medicines, and the implications
for professional roles and training.
The contributors to the report are the six speakers at the seminar in
2003, where they set out a variety of perspectives on the expert patient
to an invited audience of senior government policy makers and representatives
of professional bodies and patient organisations.
Eileen Neilson, the Society’s head of policy development, who edited
the report, said: “The Chief Medical Officer’s expert patient
programme in England is training patients to manage their own chronic
conditions more effectively. Our report considers the concept of the
expert patient in a broader context, including the history of chronic
disease self-management, the experience of self-management programmes
in Australia, what happens to professionals when they become patients;
using information about the patient experience to improve health services,
and the limits to patient expertise and choice. We now need to think
further about the implications for pharmacy education and practice.”
The report can be downloaded from the policy
section of the Society’s
website. Copies can also be requested from Karen
Turnham (tel 020 7572 2218; e-mail karen.turnham@rpsgb.org).
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Pharmaceutical Journal