patient counseling special cases that require a pharmacist

2. PHARMACY PRACTICE
SEM 7th
PRESENTED BY : Aastha Shringi

3. Special cases that require the pharmacist

4. What is patient counselling ?
 Patient counseling refers to the process of
providing vital information, advice and
assistance to help you with your
medications and to ensure you take them
properly. This also includes important
information about the patient's illness and
lifestyle.

5. Objective of patient counselling
 Improved therapeutic outcomes and decreased
adverse effects
 Improved patient adherence to the treatment plan
 Decreased medication errors and misuse
 should ensure better patient compliance
 Potential for decreased health care costs due to
appropriate use of medications and prevention of
adverse events.
 motivating the patient to take an active role in
health management.

6. Role of pharmacist in patient
counselling
 Pharmacists play a central role in ensuring medication safety and compliance
across the continuum of care. The pharmacist’s role is especially important
because a patient’s lack of knowledge about his or her medical condition and
medications is one factor that may contribute to a patient’s non adherence to
medication regimens and monitoring plans.
This challenge aside, studies have shown that pharmacist involvement has the
potential to:
 Reduce errors;
 Increasing patients’ understanding and
management of their medical condition.

7.  Minimizing incidence of adverse drug reactions and drug and drug
interactions.
 Improving patient outcomes and satisfaction with care.
 non-adherence to treatment plans is an issue to be taken very seriously.
Medicine non-compliance not only creates problems for health
professionals overseeing treatment, but also has the potential to cause
death.
 For example, a patient with congestive heart failure who does not take
diuretics correctly on a regular basis will likely end up in hospital
repeatedly.

8. Special cases that require the Pharmacist
There are various skills
vital to successful
pharmacist patient
interaction during
patient counseling
sessions.

9. Following are 10 features of effective
patient counseling:
1. Establish Trust.
2. Communicate Verbally.
3. Communicate Nonverbally.
4. Listen.
5. Ask Questions.
6. Remain Clinically Objective.
7. Show Empathy and Encouragement.
8. Provide Privacy and Confidentiality.
9. Tailor counseling to meet patient need.
10. Motivate patients.

10. 1. Establish trust
Pharmacists are among the most accessible
and trusted health care professionals.
When initiating a patient counseling
session, pharmacists should introduce
themselves with a brief, friendly greeting.
This is to make patients feel comfortable
enough to ask questions about their
medication therapies and health conditions.

11. 2. Communicate verbally
Pharmacists can encourage dialogue by
asking questions.
They should assess what the patient
already knows about his or her chosen
therapy.
Ask patients what their physician has told
them about the selected therapy.
Also ask them about the condition for
which they are being treated.

12. 3. Communicate nonverbally
This is such as maintaining eye contact
with the patient, to demonstrate
interest in the information the patient
is relaying.
Pharmacists also should be cognizant
of other nonverbal clues, such as facial
expressions and tone of voice, when
interacting with patients.

14. 4. Listen
Listening to the concerns, questions, and
needs of the patient is essential.
Listening skills can be categorized into 4
classes:
1. passive listening: Passive listening occurs
when the pharmacist enables the patient to
communicate without interruption
2. acknowledgmentresponses:
An acknowledgment response such as
nodding occurs during passive listening.

15. 3. Encouragement : This alerts the patient
that the pharmacist is indeed listening .
Pharmacists also can
use encouragement strategies through the
use of words such as “yes” or “go on.”
4. active listening : Active listening involves 2
way interactions between the patient and
the pharmacist. It should always be
implemented after passive listening.

16. 5. Ask Question
Pharmacists should state the reason for
asking certain questions, so as not to
offend the patient.
Asking open-ended questions enables
pharmacists to gather more information
that may lead to other questions.
This type of question provides valuable
information to the pharmacist to
further assess the patient.

17. 6. Remain clinically objective
It is important for pharmacists not
to allow personal beliefs to affect
their ability to counsel a patient
effectively.
Pharmacists should make every
possible effort to be nonjudgmental
and impartial
This is to focus on patient care, and
to maintain a professional
demeanor.

18. 7. Show empathy and encouragement
A patient may feel more comfortable
And so patient discusses his or her
medical condition and medication use.
This enables the pharmacist to obtain
pertinent information on the patient’s
needs and concerns.
Pharmacists also should remind patients
to call the pharmacy with any concerns
about their medications.

19. 8. Provide Privacy and Confidentiality
Ensuring complete privacy helps enable
patients to feel comfortable discussing
personal medical issues.
 Today many pharmacies are equipped with
special counseling areas to address privacy
issues.
When counseling, pharmacists can reassure
patients privacy this is by monitoring voice
levels and counseling patients away from
the dispensing area when possible.

20. 9. Tailor Counseling to Meet Patient Needs
Pharmacists should be aware of patients
with disabilities and be prepared to treat
them with respect and understanding.
Techniques should be tailored to
accommodate the needs of each patient.
This is done by via verbal counseling or
the use of visual aids and
demonstrations when warranted.

21. When the medication therapy involves
certain administration techniques,
pharmacists should demonstrate it. This
is to ensure that patients are adequately
trained.

22. 10. Motivate patients
Effective counseling not only
provides patients with the pertinent
information they need. It also
motivates them to adhere to their
medication regimens.
Pharmacists can motivate patients
by discussing the benefits of
medication adherence, offering
support, and explaining the pros
and cons of treatment.

23. Pharmacists should look
continually for ways to inspire
patients to learn more about their
treatment plan
Information always should be
relayed positively.

24. Thank you