2016 Volume 42 Issue 6 Pages 429-444
A “health support pharmacy” is a home pharmacy that provides counseling and support services to help maintain and improve health in the community. In this study, we performed a questionnaire survey on pharmacies in Gifu city to clarify the services provided as “health support pharmacy,” the status and factors of implementation, and the awareness of pharmacy managers about the services. The questionnaire investigated pharmacy attributes, services provided, pharmacy manager's awareness about the services, etc. The results indicate that, regardless of pharmacy attributes, many pharmacies provide“ counseling about the proper use of medicines such as the ways to take and use medicines” and “medication management of the elderly and people requiring care such as the prevention of leaving and forgetting to take medicines” (respectively 72.9% and 71.6%), and pharmacy managers consider that the importance, urgent necessity and feasibility of those services are high. A few pharmacies provide “health support to prevent drug and alcohol abuse and dependence” and “an approach for improvement of the response rate of medical examinations” (respectively 25.3% and 27.1%), which is dependent on pharmacy attributes. Pharmacy managers do not consider that the importance, urgent necessity and feasibility of those services are high. The services provided differ because of different pharmacy attributes and pharmacy manager's awareness, therefore it is important to announce and inform the community about the services so that people can understand and select appropriate services.
