Why the Pharmacist-Patient Relationship Matters

The role of pharmacists is changing. An increasing number of people rely on prescription drugs to maintain their health, and they expect pharmacists as well as doctors to help them.

The reason for this escalating interest in medication is not simply a greater awareness of health issues. There are now a larger number of elderly people in the population than ever before. Such people invariably rely more on medication than younger patients.

The number of drugs and the problems they resolve is also rising all the time. Patients therefore see drugs not just as something they take when they are seriously ill; many now regard drugs as necessary to provide relief for every type of complaint, no matter how minor.

Finally, patients have grown in confidence. Thanks to an environment in which information is freely available in the media and on the Internet, people are more forthright about health care decisions. When they fall ill, they demand positive action from medical professionals.

Traditional role of the pharmacist

The traditional role of pharmacists still exists. Pharmacists dispense medicines prescribed by doctors, keep patient records, and provide advice about dosages.

This role is now only part of a pharmacist's job, however. Patients want to know more about the effect of drugs and how medication can help them. They may also come direct to a pharmacist before they make an appointment with a doctor.

Health care provider

The result is a development of a new role for pharmacists: that of health care provider.

This role is not an infringement of the territory previously occupied by doctors. It's an expansion into a gap between the doctor providing a prescription and a pharmacist fulfilling the prescription's requirements.

Patients may well ask doctors about the effects of a drug, but they are now just as likely to ask pharmacists rather than doctors - or indeed both. After all, it's a pharmacist who is actually giving them the medicine.

Patients may also come straight to pharmacists to ask for medicine to address less significant problems. Pharmacists can then offer over-the-counter drugs or even herbal therapies.

Alternative remedies

Many patients are wary of the side effects of medicines and look for alternatives. The press is full of articles and adverts about herbal remedies, so people come to pharmacists for an expert opinion.

Pharmacists cannot act dismissively about herbal alternatives. Patients want informed replies from experts. Pharmacists must therefore know about alternative medicines and talk about the possible benefits with a wide range of concerned people.

Drug safety

Such discussions often go to the heart of patients' worries about the safety of conventional medicine. Pharmacists have to resolve these worries in an objective manner and present the facts clearly. It is no longer the case that patients will accept a conventional medicine as good for them because a doctor or pharmacist says so: they want to know more.

What this means to student pharmacists

Student pharmacists now face a new aspect to their studies: their relationships with patients. Pharmacists do not stand apart from patients and dispense medication in line with a prescription. They have to interact with patients by satisfying curiosity, answering requests for information, and discussing alternative medicine.

Communication of this sort is, of course, two-way. If pharmacists are to interact with patients successfully, patients must make themselves clear and precise. Pharmacists are the professionals, however, and it's they who must build and maintain the increasingly candid pharmacist-patient relationship.

Published on 2009-11-12