Social Pharmacy: Its Performance and Promise

Among private Universities of Pharmacy in Japan, Kyoritsu University of Pharmacy was the first to introduce courses in social pharmacy in 1991. Social pharmacy is a discipline driven by social needs. By studying the relationship between pharmacy and society, particularly through case studies, the impact of drugs and changes in societal expectation of them, as well as through historical background studies and surveys of current trends, this discipline acts to determine the roles of pharmacists and pharmacies expected by society. Social pharmacy requires a basic knowledge of pharmaceutical science, but an understanding from economic viewpoints of the current systems and structures in which healthcare functions is important as well. Once these are understood, the goal is to identify social problems, and to create and apply models for their resolution which connect pharmacy and society. So far, social pharmacy has played an important role in training programs for community-based pharmacists essential for a hyper-aged society, for community pharmacies' health management programs aimed at promoting the health of residents, and educational programs for elementary and middle school children.