Barriers to Effective Patient Counseling

1
Barriers to Effective Patient Counseling

• Pharmacy Practice 720
• October 18-22, 2004

2
Barriers to Counseling

• Time
• Physical
• Economic
• Patients perception of RPh
• Lack of awareness of availability

3
Barriers to counseling, continued

• Comprehension difficulties
• Lack of confidence
• Poor physician - pharmacist relationship
• Poor communication skills

4
Types of Barriers

• Practical
• Patient
• Pharmacist

5
Availability

• Visibility of RPh
• Organization of the pharmacy
• Use of technicians
• Computer arrangements
• Access to Counseling areas
• Managing time, making appointments
• Promotion of RPhs role and community activities

6
Atmosphere

• Provide a private patient counseling area
• Provide a semiprivate patient counseling area
• Use nonverbal language to create a sense of
  personal conversation
• Improve general atmosphere

7
Approach

• Use an organized approach and protocol
• Tailor counseling
• Adopt a helping approach
• Develop good communication skills
• Use appropriate educational methods and
  counseling aids

8
Attitude

• Attend to nonverbal messages
• Be assertive
• Be persuasive
• Be confident
• Be a life-long learner
• Take advantage of new technologies