Abstract
As with many countries across the globe, professional pharmacy is moving from a product orientation (dispensing medications) to a focus on patient care in Cuba. Such transformations are very difficult, especially for developing nation. To alter the roles and responsibilities of pharmacists, Cuba is beginning to enhance existing practice settings, first with revamping educational programs. The main change is the introduction of pharmaceutical care as the professional practice mode. Pharmacy curriculum now has experiential training to provide students with the new knowledge, skills, and abilities required for pharmaceutical care. The Cuban health successes in raising the overall health status of the population have led it to become a model for other developing nations. Using national data and the most recent figures from the Cuban National Institute of Statistics, this assessment of Cuban health care and its new pharmacy practice model notes the transformations being carried out in the pharmacy services, along with improvements in pharmacy education. An analysis of barriers in the context of the Cuban health system is provided. Key words: Cuba, pharmaceutical care, health system, pharmacist.
Highlights
By the early 1990s, the pharmaceutical care (PC) model was adopted to emphasize that the role of the pharmacist involves “the responsible provision of drug therapy for the purpose of achieving definite outcomes that improve a patient's quality of life” (Hepler, 1989; Glen, 2007)
An analysis of barriers in the context of the Cuban health system is provided in an overview of current trends that have linked a national network of pharmacies
The domains presented by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) in studies on implementing pharmaceutical care in Europe were used, namely, barriers to resources, barriers related to attitudes and opinions, and barriers related to education and skills
Summary
By the early 1990s, the pharmaceutical care (PC) model was adopted to emphasize that the role of the pharmacist involves “the responsible provision of drug therapy for the purpose of achieving definite outcomes that improve a patient's quality of life” (Hepler, 1989; Glen, 2007). Many research articles show the impact of pharmaceutical care in pharmacy practice and education The practice of pharmaceutical care has been established. Hospital and community pharmacists are offering pharmaceutical care services to their patients. Implementing pharmaceutical care is a complex process and yet, many pharmacists complain that this transformation is not happening quickly enough, or going far enough. The answer to a fundamental question on whether the standards should be consistent regardless of various practice settings is that the goals of pharmaceutical care exist independent of practice setting, the specific content of standards may vary from setting to setting (Erah and Nwazuoke, 2002)
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