A discussion paper on self-care and its implications for pharmacists.
Self-care is what people do to themselves to establish and maintain health, prevent and deal with illness. It includes nutrition, lifestyle, self-medication, hygiene, socio-economic and environmental factors. Self-care has been with us for thousands of years, but today there is an opportunity for pharmacists to assist patients with self-care. Society is better educated than ever before and now has access to accurate, understandable and objective, up-to-date information about drug therapies. Moreover, there is a general trend to take back control from physicians and other care-givers, and for patients to make decisions about their own care. Additional drugs are becoming available OTC and some information may require professional interpretation. On a parallel plane, the pharmacist is being recognized as a trustworthy source of information and advice. When these trends interact, there becomes a golden opportunity for pharmacists to demonstrate their worth to their patients. This report provides the perspectives from numerous sources as to the future role of the pharmacist in self-care.
Wertheimer
Albert I
AI
Temple University School of Pharmacy, 3307 No. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA. albert.wertheimer@temple.edu
Serradell
Joaquima
J
D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010595:Pharmacists; D012648:Self Care / Q000639:trends; D012651:Self Medication / Q000639:trends