Promoting Appropriate Use of Medications by "Lectures and Practices Regarding Medicine" for the Regional Community Residents

Abstract

We held lectures and practices for the regional community residents with the aim of promoting appropriate use of medications. To evaluate the usefulness of our activity, we conducted medicine-related questionnaire surveys (pre- and post-questionnaires) before and after the lectures and practices, and satisfaction with the activity questionnaire surveys (post-questionnaires) after them. We also evaluated the effect of age difference on the results by dividing the participants into elderly (age ≥65) and non-elderly (age <65), before the analysis. In the both (elderly and non-elderly) groups, the ratio of positive answers in several items of post-questionnaire regarding appropriate use of medications was higher than that of pre-questionnaire. These results suggest that the basic medicine-related knowledge improved by attending the lectures and practices, and indicate that the knowledge of the regional community residents is higher than we imagined. Furthermore, there was no difference in the ratio of positive answers between the both groups, suggesting that our activity is applicable to a wide range of age groups. Our activity benefitted the participants, and not only provided education to the regional community residents regarding appropriate drug use, but also lead to the development of regional community activity, by the coming together of the regional community residents of various age.