Pharmacy advice on Parkinson's disease popular with patients
Patients with Parkinson's disease find consultations with a pharmacist helpful, the results of a Medicines Partnership project suggest.
St Helen’s, Brighton and Hove City, and Coventry primary care trusts
took part in the pilot
study in which 18 community pharmacists offered
structured consultations with Parkinson’s disease patients or their
carers over a six-month period (PJ, 10 April 2004, p442).
The pharmacists talked to patients about their medicines and identified
and addressed issues and concerns. They then provided support and counselling
on side effects, interactions, diet, practical aids to medicine-taking
and optimal dosage timing.
Crispin Jenkinson of the health services research unit at Oxford University
is evaluating the project for the Medicines Partnership, which funded
the pilot with support from a £100,000 grant from Pfizer. Full
evaluation of the results of the project will be published later in the
year.
Professor Jenkinson explained to The Journal that 82.0 per cent of patients
said that the advice they received from the pharmacist was helpful. In
addition, 70.1 per cent of patients claimed to have gained greater benefits
from their medicines since taking part in the project, 89.9 per cent
said that the pharmacist listened to their concerns and 87.5 per cent
said they would recommend the service to others.
However, self-reported health status — as measured on the Parkinson’s
Disease Questionnaire — did not alter over the period of the study,
nor did medicines adherence, which was high before the study.
Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Week runs from 24 to 30 April this
year. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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