THE 5,700 community pharmacies spread across the Australian landscape are the obvious gateway to patient self care, according to the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), says FIP Fellow pharmacist Paul Sinclair (pictured).
Sinclair is this morning addressing the World Self Medication Industry (WSMI) general assembly conference which this year is being held in Sydney with the theme "The economics of self care".
"Industrial age medicine" has inverted to become "Information age healthcare", Sinclair argues.
"Patients and consumers with greater education, knowledge and power need and want pharmacist and pharmacy assistance to optimise their medicine therapy outcomes, including a significant emphasis on self care."
The Pharmaceutical Society here in Australia very early recognised the value of improving patient's health literacy by way of its printed "Self Care Information Sheets" in pharmacy - and this was all before the rise of the internet, Sinclair highlights.
"With the advent of technology and the internet patients had ready access to information, and the focus of the pharmacist changed from information provider to information manager."
In addition, he says, platforms such as Guildcare give patients access to health records, medicine information and their pharmacist instantly via mobile devices and a suite of smartphone apps.
Sinclair urges pharmacists to "place themselves in the self care space" by delivering a wide range of services.
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