Abstract
Group education for patients has been performed at some medical institutions within the framework of team medicine. Until now, however, the role of pharmacists in team medicine has not been considered. We recently conducted a questionnaire survey involving 370 nationwide institutions. The questionnaire included questions primarily pertaining to group education for diabetic patients. This survey was aimed at examining:(1) diseases for which team medicine has been practiced, (2) the degree of pharmacists' involvement in team medicine, (3) future plans of pharmacists to engage in team medicine, and (4) views about team medicine.
This survey revealed that group education for diabetic patients was performed in 75% of the institutions examined. However, pharmacists were involved as teaching staff in only 39% of the institutions conducting such classes. The survey additionally disclosed that group education, within the framework of team medicine, was performed for more than 20 diseases in addition to diabetes mellitus. Forty-eight percent of all respondents affirmed the necessity of participation in educational team of patients. Some institutions replied that pharmacists can not participate in team medicine because of a shortage of pharmacists. However, the number of prescriptions handled by a pharmacist did not differ significantly between the institutions where pharmacists were involved in group education for diabetic patients and the institutions where they did not. Therefore, it is elucidated whether or not pharmacists should be involved in team medicine depend on the attitude of the pharmacy department.
