Development of educational intervention on the responsible use of medicines in public

Abstract

This study aimed to develop an educational program to improve the public’s knowledge and awareness about the use of medicines. Pre- and post-intervention studies were conducted to assess the impact of an educational intervention program on the use of medicines among the general public. Adult people over 18 years old who were using medicines at the time of the study or in the past month prior to the study were included. A convenience sampling method was used to invite the people to participate in a health education program in their household area in the State of Penang. This study showed that there was inadequate knowledge about some aspects of using medicines, with a mean score of 5.66 ± 2.39 out of 10 points. In addition, most of the participants have poor awareness about the role of pharmacists in drug management, with a mean score of 2.40 ± 1.73 out of 5 points. The mean score of knowledge and awareness was significantly increased after the educational intervention to 8.64 ± 1.65 and 4.12 ± 0.97, respectively. Educational intervention was useful, especially when it was followed by effective patient counselling to improve the knowledge and awareness about the use of medicines among medicine users.