Patient counselling

Definition of Patient counselling,
Goals for patient counselling,
steps for patient counselling,
Barriers for patient counselling

1. PATIENT
COUNSELLING
Dr. RameshBhandari
Asst. Professor,
Department of Pharmacy Practice
KLE College of Pharmacy, Belagavi

2. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
INTRODUCTION
Patientcounsellingreferstotheprocessof
providinginformation,adviceandassistanceto
helppatientsusetheirmedications
appropriately.
Informationoradvicecanbegivendirectlyto
thepatientorpatientrepresentative.

3. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
INTRODUCTION
Pharmacistsshouldassessthepatient’s
knowledgeabouthisorherillnessandthe
treatmentandprovideinformationoradvice
accordinglytofilltheunderstandinggapin
ordertotaketheirmedicationsinsafeand
effectivemanner.

4. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
AIM OF COUNSELLING
Betterunderstandingoftheirillnessandroleof
medicationinthetreatment.
Improvedmedicationadherence
Reduceddrugrelatedproblemsormedicationerrors
ultimatelyreducingthehealthcarecosts.
Improvedpatientqualityoflife
Effectivedrugtreatment

5. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR
EFFECTIVE COUNSELLING
1.VerbalCommunication
Language
Tone
Volume
Speed
2.Non-verbalCommunication
Proximity
Eyecontact
FacialExpression

6. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
STEPS FOR PATIENT COUNSELLING
I.Preparingforthesession
II.Openingthesession
III.Counsellingcontent
IV.Closingthesession

7. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
I.Preparing for the session
Successofcounsellingdependsonthe
knowledgeandskillsofthecounsellor.
Pharmacistshouldknowthepatientcondition
andthetreatmentdetails.
Hospitalsetting–referringcasenotes
Communitysetting–Patientandtheir
prescription

8. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
I.Preparing for the session
Ifthepatientistakingdrugwhichisunfamiliar
tothepharmacistthenappropriatedrug
informationreferenceshouldbeconsidered
beforecounselling.
Considerthephysicalormentalstateofthe
patient.

9. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
II.Opening the session
Pharmacistshouldgreetthepatientbytheir
nameandintroducehim/herself.
Pharmacistshouldtellthepurposeofthe
counselling.
BesttouseprefixlikeMr.orMrs.orMs.
beforethenameofthepatient.
Pharmacistassessinformationfromthepatients
abouttheirunderstandingsofthediseaseand
drugtreatment.

10. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
II.Opening the session
Useopenendedquestionsratherthanclose
endedquestion.
Openendedquestionsallowspharmacistto
gathermoreinformation.
Eg:‘Whatdidyourdoctortellyouaboutyour
disease?’‘Whatdoyouknowaboutyour
disease?’
Reflectivequestioningcanbeusedtogather
moreinformation.

11. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
III.Counselling content
Mainbody/heartofthecounsellingsession.
Here,pharmacistwillexplaintothepatient
abouthis/hermedications,lifestylechangesetc.

12. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
III.Counselling content
Commontopicsinclude
•Nameanddoseofthemedication
•Reasonwhyitisprescribed
•Howtotakethemedication
•Expectedbenefits
•Expecteddurationofthetreatments
•Possibleadverseeffects

13. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
III.Counselling content
Commontopicsinclude
•Adviceoncorrectstorage
•Whattodoifadoseismissed?
•Minimumdurationrequiredtoshow
therapeuticbenefit
•Monitoringifrequired

14. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
IV.Closing session
Beforeclosingthesession,itisessentialto
checkthepatient’sunderstanding.
Canbeassessedbyfeedbackquestions
Eg:‘canyourememberforwhatthis
medicationisfor?’‘Forhowlongshouldyou
takethismedication?’

15. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
IV.Closing session
Duringthediscussion,someofthepatient’s
informationneedsmayhavenewquestionsor
doubts.
Beforeclosing,summarythemainpointsin
logicalorder.
Ifappropriate,thepharmacistcansupplytheir
contactnumber

16. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
Barriers of Patient Counselling
Barriers are classified as:
1)Patient based barriers
2)Provider based barriers
3)System based barriers

17. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
1)Patient based barriers
Unaware that pharmacists may provide
counselling and generally ask their prescriber
about medication use.
Language difference
Gender difference
Lack of time

18. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
2)Provider based barriers
Lack of confidence
Lack of knowledge
Lack of counselling skills
Heavy patient flowfor prescription filling
Lack of time

19. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
3)System based barriers
Counselling not being mandatory legal
requirement
Pharmacists are not entitled to charge for
dispensing or counselling
Lack of privacy

20. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
Strategies to overcome barriers
Provider based barriers are easy to overcome by
updating their knowledge and counselling
skills
Developing confidence
Encouraging individual patient to ask
questions

21. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
Strategies to overcome barriers
Using multimedia materials
Providing oral as well as written materials (PIL)
Incentives to counsellor
New legislation to include counselling as
mandatory requirement

22. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari
REFERENCE
G. Parthasarathi, Karin NyfortHansen,
MilapC Nahata. A textbook of clinical
pharmacy practice Essential concepts and
skills. Universities Press. 2
nd
edition.

23. Dr.
Ramesh
Bhandari