Initiative aims to encourage men to use pharmacies
Will & Deni McIntyre/Science Photo Library
Men should be encouraged to use pharmacies more |
Men are going to be encouraged to make better use of pharmacies through an initiative launched this week by the Men’s Health Forum.
In conjunction with Royal Mail, specially designed, male-friendly information
outlining the services pharmacies offer, and encouraging men to use them,
will be given to employees at one major site. The scheme is being backed
by the Department of Health, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the National
Pharmacy Association and Pfizer.
The initiative will run until next
summer and the organisers hope the findings will encourage the roll-out
of similar initiatives across the UK.
“[Pharmacy services] could be used as a major triage service, directing
men to the best available source of help,” Ian Banks,
president of the Men’s Health Forum, said. “There is evidence that
men are more likely to visit their GP if they have been advised to do
so by another health professional.” He added that pharmacists could
also become involved in outreach work in venues used by men, such as
working men’s clubs, sports clubs, public houses and barbers’ shops.
Gul Root, principal pharmaceutical officer at the Department
of Health, commented: “In our report ‘Choosing health through pharmacy’,
we proposed that pharmacy services should be promoted and developed as
a source of advice, information and support for self care for men and
that pharmacies should consider how they could make their services and
premises more attractive to men.”
Graham Phillips, a community pharmacist and a member
of the Society’s
Council, said: “Because many men are reluctant users of general
practice, it is vital that we maximise the potential of pharmacies to
help men self care more effectively. Pharmacies are well placed to assist
men with long-term conditions, especially those who take a cocktail of
prescribed medicines and we can refer men to other services.” |
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