Abstract
In recent years,with the continuing ageing of society,the number of users of the nursing care insurance system has been increasing in Japan.Under the system,home helpers play a central role in home care for the elderly at home and provide them with drug administration and other services.To promote the proper administration of drugs for the elderly,we designed an educational intervention for home helpers under which they gain a basic understanding of drug therapy through pharmaceutical study meetings organized by us.Six study meetings were held between March and August 2007,with 3 different lectures delivered twice at each meeting.The study meetings were attended by 131 people who included a small number of repeat participants.
We conducted a questionnaire survey of the participants to evaluate the learning effects and benefits of the study meeting curriculum.The results revealed that the home helpers had a favorable impression of the study meetings.Many of them found the lectures easy to comprehend and beneficial for their work,and they increased their interest in gaining knowledge of pharmaceuticals.
This kind of educational intervention could aid home helpers in understanding the importance of supportive care based on accurate knowledge in administering medicines,and motivate them to learn more about pharmaceuticals.
