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Health Care Disparities Start at the Local Pharmacy |
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From University of California: Despite years of effort in reaching out to their local communities, the role pharmacists play as health care providers still remains unclear to the people who need them the most -- elderly Americans with multiple medications for chronic diseases. As a result, many patients with the most complex prescription needs may be hesitant to ask the questions they need to take their medications safely and consistently, according to a new study from the UCSF School of Pharmacy. In one of the first studies to interview only elderly African-Americans regarding their perceptions of their community pharmacist, UCSF researchers also report that most would like to relate to their pharmacist the way they do with their personal doctors, but very few actually achieve that. Findings were published last month in the spring issue of the journal "Ethnicity and Disease." "There are many articles describing physician-patient relationships, but there is a paucity of information on patients and their pharmacists," explained Sharon Youmans, PharmD, MPH, a UCSF associate professor of clinical pharmacy who led the study. Yet few participants reported feeling comfortable initiating such discussions, due to either not being able to identify the pharmacist or a sense that the pharmacist was too busy to talk with them. Youmans said the study highlights the importance of patient-pharmacist communication and identifies the need for far more training of pharmacists and pharmacy staff in cultural competence and communication. The study also showed that the individual pharmacists, and the profession as a whole, need to make increased efforts to become integral partners of local, state and national initiatives aimed at decreasing health disparities, she said.
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