Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of the practicum as well as assess the knowledge, skills, and various specific realizations that the students gained from it. A total of 244 students role-played a scenario in which a pharmacist visited a patient at home and provided pharmaceutical management services. After completing the practicum, the students completed (i) a questionnaire survey consisting of six questions that assessed their level of understanding of the role of pharmacists in home medical care and (ii) a rubric survey that evaluated their learning achievement. In addition, they submitted practicum portfolios describing the patients’ living conditions, physical conditions, and background as well as the services that required consideration of said variables. Their responses to the portfolio item “What were noticed through the practicum” were analyzed using the grounded theory approach. After the practicum, 45% and 53% of the students reported having a full and partial understanding of a pharmacists’ role in home medical care. The students’ mean ± standard deviation rubric score was 3.0 ± 0.4. They classified monitoring drug use, support for improving medication adherence, and observation to identify side effects early as major service categories in home medical care. The practicum led the students to perceive the need for communication with patients and various healthcare professionals to improve their readiness for practical training.
Highlights
Individuals aged 65 years and older account for 28.4% of the population of Japan’s aging society [1]
Medical service fees for home medical care are reimbursed from either of the two systems, and these systems do not differ in terms of the specific pharmaceutical management and consultation services provided by pharmacists
The results of the questionnaire survey showed that 84% of the students had a general idea about the role of pharmacists in home medical care but did not have an understanding of all the tasks involved before the practicum
Summary
Individuals aged 65 years and older account for 28.4% of the population of Japan’s aging society [1]. Pharmaceutical Association has stated that pharmacists should supply medicines and provide other services to optimize the efficacy and safety of drug therapy for home care patients, including modifications in dispensing manners depending on a patient’s condition (e.g., dispensing drugs in single-dose packages); management of medication history (e.g., checkups for unused medicines and drug interactions); instruction/assistance on medication; monitoring of adverse reactions; and making prescription proposals to the responsible medical doctors [3]. In Japan, in addition to the public health insurance system, a public long-term care insurance system to which all individuals in the country are subscribed is in place. Medical service fees for home medical care are reimbursed from either of the two systems, and these systems do not differ in terms of the specific pharmaceutical management and consultation services provided by pharmacists.
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