Informed Patient Circle
Know your therapy - Use it safely
It is believed that, a well counseled patient or a well informed caregiver can positively contribute in the treatment. Improper medication storage and use leads to patient harm.
Ask the experts!
And be a part of "informed patient circle"
Things you should know
- The proper name and indication of your medicine
- Benefit of taking your medicine regularly
- Hazards of missing frequent doses or quitting therapy against medical advice
- Precautions and "must avoid" situations with your medicine
- Dietary precautions
- Right time, Right route, Right dose, Right frequency and Right duration of taking your medicine
- Proper storage condition
- Proper disposal method
Pharmacists
can help you
Several
studies have shown that patient education
programmes by pharmacists had a tremendous
impact on patient compliance, medication
error rate and therapy outcome. It
definitely helped in improving patients'
quality of life.
Medication Errors:
If
any thing goes wrong in either of the
following steps, it might be harmful
to the patient; and it may result
in mild side effects, life or organ
threatening conditions or it may even
be fatal:
- Prescribing stage
- Dispensing stage
- Administration stage
Your
role in preventing medication error:
- Ask
your doctor and pharmacist to explain
the exact method of taking your
medicine;
- Remember
your medicine(s) by the name, strength
and colour/shape;
- Do
not use medicine without consulting
your doctor. For non-prescription
drugs, ask your pharmacist to help
in selecting medicines;
- Do
not offer your medicines to anyone,
and do not use medicine
prescribed to others for your ailments;
- Discard
medicine safely after the expiry
date.
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