Community
pharmacists are well placed to deliver adherence support services
as well as other pharmaceutical services to patients. They are
often the last point of contact with patients collecting medicines
in the healthcare chain, and they tend to be visited by patients
on a regular basis to collect prescription medicines. They have
the opportunity to reinforce information already received from
other health practitioners, provide further information and monitor
adherence to therapy.
The past decade has seen an increase in focus on the importance
of adherence to therapy, not only in the higher education sector,
but also in government policy and community pharmacy practice.
Adherence monitoring and promotion has not only become the foundation
of courses taught in pharmacy schools, but has become an essential
component of disease management and pharmaceutical services delivered
by community pharmacists.
Aims: This article aims to describe the education, research, practice
and policy in the area of adherence to therapy in Australia with
a focus on community pharmacists.
Methods: A search of MEDLINE and International Pharmaceutical
Abstracts as well as hand searches of the bibliographies of retrieved
articles was conducted for the period 2000-2008. All pharmacy
schools in Australia were also contacted to obtain information
on the patient adherence to therapy content of their courses.
Results: Ten studies met the inclusion criteria. Only one study
had a specific adherence focus, with the remainder including adherence
support and monitoring as part of the overall interventions delivered
by the community pharmacists. In the majority of cases the interventions
resulted in an improvement in patients’ adherence to therapy.
The research was supported by government and pharmacy professional
organisation initiatives in the area of cognitive pharmaceutical
services. All universities which responded delivered specific
patient adherence courses.
Conclusions: Australian pharmacy schools are educating cohorts
of students who will have the skills to monitor and support patient
medication adherence in the context of contemporary pharmacy practice.
This is supported by research evidence, government policy and
fits well into the move to expand community pharmacy services
to include chronic disease state management and primary health
care.
