The pharmacist's role in the therapeutic partnership relationship with the elderly patient

Abstract

Introduction. The collaboration between the pharmacist and the elderly in the community pharmacy is being defined through a therapeutic partnership that ensures the quality of pharmaceutical care provided. This relationship is based on the comprehensive assessment of the specific needs of elderly patients, trust, and the pharmacist's communication skills, which as a whole ensures the improvement of the experience of the elderly related to medicines use in outpatient settings. Aim of study. To describe the characteristics of the relationship between the elderly pharmacy visitor and the pharmacist from the perspective of the elderly to highlight the specifics of the pharmaceutical care provided in the community pharmacy. Methods and materials. The tool used in this research is the sociological questionnaire, care consists of 10 written questions and refers to several aspects of the collaborative relationship between the pharmacist and the elderly established during the pharmaceutical act. The study was carried out for 6 months, the respondents being pharmacy visitors aged over 60 and who are drug users. Results. A survey of 194 elderly respondents, showed a very good level of trust in the pharmacist as a specialist in the field of medicine (61,85%), and the elderly often addressed (45,3%) to the pharmacist when experiencing difficulties in using medicines. The level of information by the pharmacist after the last visit to the pharmacy is a very good one (55,15%). The respondents noted a good level of retention of the information provided by the pharmacist during counseling at the last visit to the pharmacy (51,54%) and that they always strictly followed the pharmacist's recommendations regarding the use of the requested medicines (53,6%). A less common practice in the elderly is the use of supplementary instructions or various medical accessories to facilitate the use of medicines, 58,76% indicated that they do not use them and the pharmacists do not inform them (74,74%) about their usefulness. The elderly use 5 drugs simultaneously (86,08%), antihypertensive drugs were listed most frequently. To benefit from pharmaceutical assistance appropriate to their needs, respondents support (93,81%) specialization and continuous training of the pharmacist in providing geriatric pharmaceutical services. Conclusion. Pharmaceutical care oriented towards the satisfaction of needs related to the administration of medicines in the elderly at home contributes to improving their knowledge about medicines and is based on the partnership relationship formed between the pharmacist and the elderly.