Opportunities and Responsibilities in Pharmaceutical Care

Dear Colleagues,

Medicines administration is an important part of the treatment of many patients. Achieving a therapy tailored to individual patients, with a maximum of therapeutic effects and a minimum of adverse effects, can be challenging.  It requires significant efforts by patients, informal caregivers, interprofessional teams of healthcare providers, and the healthcare system. It also involves respectful agreements of all stakeholders on responsibilities throughout the complex process of pharmaceutical care.

On 11 March 2020, the Council of Europe adopted a new resolution [1] on pharmaceutical care, i.e., the responsible provision of drug therapy for the purpose of achieving definite outcomes that improve a patient’s quality of life [2]. The resolution focuses on how pharmaceutical care can be implemented for the benefit of patients and health services.

From the resolution, several challenges and opportunities can be derived to optimise pharmaceutical care through an interprofessional and patient-centred approach. Steps considered in the process are: 1) assessment of patient’s medication and health status; 2) identification and prioritisation of medication-related problems; 3) selection of interventions and formulation of a pharmaceutical care plan; 4) patient agreement, implementation and monitoring; and 5) patient follow-up.

This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is devoted to making a substantial contribution to the implementation of pharmaceutical care for the benefit of patients and health services.  We welcome manuscripts within this scope, based on varied healthcare settings, patient populations or healthcare professions. We encourage translational research that tests new approaches incorporating person-centred design or technology support or considering implementation strategies.

1. The Council of Europe Resolution CM/Res(2020)3 on implementation of pharmaceutical care for the benefit of patients and health services https://search.coe.int/cm/pages/result_details.aspx?objectid=09000016809cdf26 (Accessed on 30 October 2020)
2. Hepler C.D. and Strand L.M., Opportunities and Responsibilities in Pharmaceutical Care, American Journal of Hospital Pharmacy 1990; 47, 533–543.

Prof. Dr. Tinne Dilles
Guest Editor

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