Pharmacists and their relationship with elderly patients

Area of Science:

• Geriatric Pharmacy
• Medication Management
• Patient Counseling

Background:

• Elderly patients represent a vulnerable population requiring specialized pharmaceutical care.
• Effective medication management and patient counseling are crucial for optimizing health outcomes in older adults.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate pharmacists' practices and challenges in managing elderly patients' medications.
• To assess information storage systems, dispensing habits, and counseling approaches used by pharmacists for geriatric patients.

Main Methods:

• A survey was conducted among 60 randomly selected pharmacists.
• The survey explored pharmacists' relationships with elderly patients, information systems, dispensing practices, and encountered problems.

Main Results:

• Nearly all pharmacists maintained medication profiles for elderly patients; one-third used computers for enhanced record-keeping.
• While most pharmacists counseled on prescription drug use, few addressed nonprescription medications.
• Over 80% of pharmacists reported occasional instances of inappropriate physician prescribing for elderly patients.

Conclusions:

• Pharmacists play a key role in elderly medication management, with computerization aiding information storage.
• Gaps exist in counseling regarding nonprescription drugs, and physician prescribing practices present challenges.
• Further interventions may be needed to address prescribing appropriateness and comprehensive patient education in geriatric pharmacy care.