Pharmacy Daily | Pharmacists’ asthma upskill

A PROJECT by the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research to adapt an educational program for GPs to community pharmacy improved the confidence of participating pharmacists when it came to counselling paediatric asthma patients. The Practitioner Asthma Communication and Education (PACE) for Pharmacy program involved 44 pharmacists in central Sydney trained in groups to improve communication in the management of the condition, including assessing a child’s clinical pattern of asthma and making informed referrals to the GP regarding prescribing. Results were published this month in International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and found that more than 70% of pharmacists reported being more confident in helping the patient or carer make asthma management decisions and in setting and reviewing short and long term goals for management. Nearly 40% on average reported higher levels in use of communication strategies when counselling a paediatric asthma patient and 62% talked patients through the use of new medication. More than half more regularly provided an inhaler device demonstration when dispensing a new medicine, more frequently reviewed long term goals and checked whether medications were tailored to asthma patterns, the study found - CLICK HERE for more.

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