Resumen de New role of primary care pharmacist in health education: Deployment and analysis of the workshop «know your medicines»
Blanca Basagoiti Carreño, Ana Díez Alcántara, María José Almodóvar Carretón, Ana Gangoso Fermoso, Mª Carmen Herrero Domínguez-Berrueta, Antonio Martín Alonso, Eva Prieto Utiel
Introduction: Health education includes learning opportunities aimed at improving health literacy, including improving public knowledge and developing personal skills that lead to improved health. Health education is included in the portfolio of services of the Spanish Society of Primary Care Pharmacists (SEFAP) in the area of population planning and management. The «Know Your Medicines» workshop aims to train patients to learn about different aspects of the medications so they can participate in error prevention by improving safety and adherence. This workshop has been implemented and delivered for the first time in our health area by the Primary Care Pharmacists and the objective of the study is to describe the results obtained, so that we can guide and optimize our actions in the future.
Method: Descriptive study of an intervention based on a validated project of health education with group methodology led by the Primary Care Pharmacists with the collaboration of nursing. The project developed by a multidisciplinary team consists of a technical paper and support materials to encourage participation. The activity is oriented to the patients to acquire knowledge and develop attitudes and skills that allow them to manage their medication safely and properly. Target population includes patients over 65 years of age polymedicated. Each workshop is held in three sessions of approximately 90 minutes. The methodology includes the following techniques: talk, round table talk, brainstorming, participatory lesson, group exercises and case analysis. Participants are given a six-question knowledge test before and after the activity to describe the degree of improvement, a satisfaction survey, and in the last session they are provided with an accreditation diploma.
Results: 19 workshops have been conducted in 48% of the Health Centers in the Area (40) during the study period (January 2019-January 2020), with 195 patients at the first session of the workshop, with attendance decreasing in subsequent sessions.
The second session lost 17% (No. = 33) and the last one 22% (No. = 43). The mean age was 75.8 years (SD: 7.07; CI: 74.8-76.78) and 58.6% were women. The overall assessment averaged 9.1 out of 10. Participants commented in the satisfaction survey that the activity was excellent, interesting and instructive. On the other hand, they indicated that they had learned more than they expected and that workshops should be repeated more often. It was noted that the workshop climate had been tolerant and participatory, and participants were happy and motivated to learn. The answers improved in the six pre-test questions versus the post-test.
Discussion: The involvement of the Primary Care Pharmacists has been relevant for the implementation of these workshops in the Health Centers of the Area, and it has enabled the health education service line included in the portfolio of services. Workshops have helped improving the overall knowledge of patients related to drugs as all pre-test versus post-test questions have improved. Analysis of the degree of improvement according to the questions helps us to identify the starting level, the concepts that have become clearer, and on which issues we need to focus more. Regarding satisfaction we can say that participants expressed a high level of complacency indicating the need to repeat this activity
