Undergraduate students’ experiences in counselling patients using long-term medication – the Effects Use Problems Checkups (EUPC) method
Keywords:
Community Pharmacy Services, Counselling, Hypertension, Patients, Long-term Medication Users, Pharmacy StudentsAbstract
Background: Monitoring the patient’s condition is not common in pharmacies and new tools to learn it are needed. Aims: To analyse the suitability of the EUPC method (a memory aid for counselling long-term medication users: Effect, Use, Problems and Checkups) for learning patient counselling in pharmacies.
Method: Pharmacy students tested the EUPC method and recorded their experiences in an internet questionnaire. The students’ answers were analysed using content analysis and quantification.
Results: About 90 % of the students regarded the EUPC method as well suited for counselling patients with hypertension and other long-term diseases. Nearly 65% of the students covered all of the counselling questions and 96% at least three of the counselling questions. The method was regarded as comprehensive and easy to use.
Conclusion: The EUPC method is well suited for learning patient counselling and use of the method ensures that the content of patient counselling will cover most important topics.
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