Counseling in Special Populations: The Elderly Patient The aging process creates special problems for pharmacists in delivering pharmaceutical services. by Louise Mallet, PharmD
This seventh installment in the series on value-added services provides pharmacists with a systematic approach to identifying and meeting the special counseling-related needs of the ambulatory elderly patient. The article describes the physical, mental, and social changes that characteristically accompany the aging process and that create special problems for pharmaCists and their elderly patients during the delivery ofpharmaceutical care. It also describes a systematic approach that pharmaCists can use to evaluate whether their elderly patients need special counseling. Finally, it illustrates how the principles that are discussed can be applied in the practice setting.
CE Credit
CE Credit: To obtain two (2) homs of continuing education credit for completing "Counseling in Special Populations: The Elderly Patient," complete the assessment exercise and CE registration form and retum it to APhA. A certificate will be awarded upon achieving a passing grade of 70% or better. Phannacists completing this article within two years of date of issue can receive credit.
I
I~ The American Phanna-
The Counseling Imperative In providing pharmaceutical care to their patients, pharmacists routinely perform professional services that add value to patient care. Previous installments in this series have discussed the pharmacist's role in a number of areas, including obtaining and using patient information,l screening for prescribing errors, 2 and monitoring dnlg therapy. 3 Although each of these professional activities differs in its immediate objective, their ultimate goal is the same: to maximize the therapeutic benefits that patients receive from their pharmaceutical care while minimizing the incidence of adverse effects. Although pharmacists perform a variety of services to ensure the safe and effective use of the medications they dispense, there is little doubt that patient counseling and related information services represent a cornerstone of pharmaceutical care. Indeed, when properly performed, patient counseling can be one of the most effective means that community pharmacists have to exert a positive influence on the therapeutic outcomes of their patients. Vol. NS32, No. 10 October 1992/ 835
II
ceutical Association is ® approved by the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education as a provider of continuing phannaceutical education.
te\ APhA provider number: '
This seventh installment in the series on value-added services provides pharmacists with a systematic approach to identifying and meeting the special counseling-related needs of the ambulatory elderly patient. The article describes the physical, mental, and social changes that characteristically accompany the aging process and that create special problems for pharmaCists and their elderly patients during the delivery ofpharmaceutical care. It also describes a systematic approach that pharmaCists can use to evaluate whether their elderly patients need special counseling. Finally, it illustrates how the principles that are discussed can be applied in the practice setting.
CE Credit
CE Credit: To obtain two (2) homs of continuing education credit for completing "Counseling in Special Populations: The Elderly Patient," complete the assessment exercise and CE registration form and retum it to APhA. A certificate will be awarded upon achieving a passing grade of 70% or better. Phannacists completing this article within two years of date of issue can receive credit.
I
I~ The American Phanna-
The Counseling Imperative In providing pharmaceutical care to their patients, pharmacists routinely perform professional services that add value to patient care. Previous installments in this series have discussed the pharmacist's role in a number of areas, including obtaining and using patient information,l screening for prescribing errors, 2 and monitoring dnlg therapy. 3 Although each of these professional activities differs in its immediate objective, their ultimate goal is the same: to maximize the therapeutic benefits that patients receive from their pharmaceutical care while minimizing the incidence of adverse effects. Although pharmacists perform a variety of services to ensure the safe and effective use of the medications they dispense, there is little doubt that patient counseling and related information services represent a cornerstone of pharmaceutical care. Indeed, when properly performed, patient counseling can be one of the most effective means that community pharmacists have to exert a positive influence on the therapeutic outcomes of their patients. Vol. NS32, No. 10 October 1992/ 835
II
ceutical Association is ® approved by the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education as a provider of continuing phannaceutical education.
te\ APhA provider number: '
