The Taipei Department of Health announced it has established a “family pharmacist” pilot project, providing 24-hour medical consultation to 110 senior citizens’ welfare institutions and those in need.
According to data from the Ministry of the Interior last year, Taipei was home to 14 percent of the nation’s elderly people, department Food and Drug Division Director Wang Ming-li (王明理) said.
Wang said that the problem of elderly people receiving duplicate drug therapies is increasing, so pharmaceutical care in retirement homes is important.
Fifty-five community pharmacies are involved in the project, archiving individual medical records and providing 24-hour consultation for residents in 110 retirement homes and other individuals who have applied, he said.
A pharmacist surnamed Tseng (曾) at Hello Pharmacy said that for a period of time, he had often received telephone calls in the middle of the night from a retirement home informing him that a resident surnamed Wang (王), who had heart disease, had been taken to hospital with arrhythmia, or an irregular heartbeat.
After visiting the facility to determine Wang’s medication, Tseng discovered that the long-acting medicine meant to treat his cardiovascular disease was being crushed into powder before being given to him, which reduced its effect.
Pharmaceutical care coverage is only about 20 percent at present and the goal for the first stage of the project is 50 percent, with a goal to achieve 100 percent eventually, the department said.
Wang said participation is encouraged among at-risk groups.
Elderly people who have the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids and high blood sugar — have more than two chronic diseases, have at least two prescriptions, take more than five prescribed medications every day, or those in need of pharmaceutical care can consult with community pharmacists to participate in the project, he said.
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