Community Pharmacy, Disease State Management, and Adherence to Medication

Abstract

Community pharmacists are well trained healthcare professionals who are able and willing to implement extended medication services. In the past decade, a plethora of pharmaceutical care and pharmacy-based disease management programs have been developed and trialed for delivery in primary care settings. Since suboptimal medication adherence is a feature of chronic illness, it is important to review the success of disease management interventions targeting adherence. This review focuses on the programs that were developed for asthma, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease in community pharmacies and that either targeted medication adherence or reported it as an outcome.