Download SHEET L.04 SLIDE 2(Basic communication skills in pharmacy

SHEET L.04 SLIDE 2(Basic communication skills in pharmacy practice)
February 13, 2017
practice 2
Sheet Number : 4
Dr. Name : Eman Elayeh
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SHEET L.04 SLIDE 2(Basic communication skills in pharmacy practice)
February 13, 2017
- Refer to the comic in the slides, the pharmacist is talking with the patient
about her medications, what is your opinion about this counseling?
Watery eyes – runny eyes?
Runny nose – watery nose?
Aching head – scratching head
Scratching throat – aching throat
* It is not the proper way of counseling, the patient will not understand properly.
* Assume that we gave the patient the recommended medications with the right
dose, but we didn't counsel the patient about the proper way of using them, will
the patient benefit from his or her medications?
NO, he won’t
- Many asthmatic and COPD patients are prescribed with the right
medications to control their symptoms and they commit with their follow
up sessions but in fact their symptoms are not well-controlled, what are the
reasons?
Patients may use their devices that control their symptoms in a wrong way.
- What could be the reasons behind using their devices in a wrong way?
Patients may be taught to use their devices in a way that is insufficient and not
clear enough.
- Patients don't know how exactly to use their devices.
We, as pharmacists, should make sure that patients understand properly the right
and proper ways of using their medications.

123-
Elements of communication between pharmacists and patients are:
sender – the pharmacist
receiver – the patient
The message
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SHEET L.04 SLIDE 2(Basic communication skills in pharmacy practice)
February 13, 2017
 To make a good communication, the message should be understood and
received properly by the receiver in the same way that is sent by the
sender. Effective communication with patients makes them understand
clearly and properly about their medications.
 In order to make sure that the message is received correctly, the sender
must:
1- speak clearly
2- speak slowly
3- use appropriate language
4- check understanding
 How to make sure that the patient has received the message correctly?
We may ask patients themselves about the way of using their medications (to
make sure that all important points were mentioned to the patient), or we
may ask patients to repeat what we said about their medications or diseases.
 How do we counsel patients about a specific disease?
We tell them how to control the disease, monitor the treatment and the
lifestyle modifications that are needed (i.e.diet).
 What do we mean by "appropriate language"?
An appropriate language requires talking with patients in Arabic and in
clear/appropriate terms, we should use for example the term ‫اثار جانبية‬
We should avoid the term ‫فشل القلب‬
And use more appropriate terms like: .‫هبوط القلب أو ضعف عضلة القلب‬
- We should always assume that patients don't know anything about their
medications and diseases and that we should make sure that the
communication is effective, clear and understoodcorrectly.
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SHEET L.04 SLIDE 2(Basic communication skills in pharmacy practice)
February 13, 2017
- On the other hand, the receiver should:
1- Listen carefully and should not disturb the communication in any way
(phone calls for example).
2- Ask for clarification: we should let patients ask and interact to make sure
that they understand everything properly.
3- Write it down: all information should be written down for patients (they
may forget certain important things).
4- Repeat the message in order to check that it is well understood.
 Regarding the message, it consists of two parts:
1- verbal message: factual information
2- non-verbal: feeling information
In many situations, facial expressions affect transmitting a message and it also
affects communication. The body language and facial expressions contribute
more towards communication than the words in the message.
- Verbal communication: is the linguistic element of the message. The use of
appropriate language is important (must be clear and simple).
 What do we mean by "avoid Jargon"?
The use of complicated medical terms that patients can't understand.
- Non-verbal communication: contains facial expressions and tone of voice
(it infers your inner feelings).
For example, a patient comes to the pharmacy and tells the pharmacist about
his/her disease, the pharmacist may look tired and not interested, or may talk in a
kind way with a clear voice and excitement.
Another example, judgments are made about the emotional state of someone by
facial expressions, pharmacists may just look bored or nervous by facial
expressions and that affects patients.
- body language: contains five elements:
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SHEET L.04 SLIDE 2(Basic communication skills in pharmacy practice)
February 13, 2017
1- Eye contact: it is very important when listening to look at the speaker
because if the speaker looks up and notices the listener's gaze is elsewhere,
she will assume your attention is elsewhere. There should be at least 75%
of the conversation between the pharmacist and the patient with eye
contact to make an effective communication.
2- Facial expressions: eyes and the movement of eyebrows signal different
types of emotions.
3- Proximity and orientation: the level of individuals is very important.
Counters in pharmacies are physical barriers against an effective
communication, there should be a specific counseling area in the pharmacy
that provides privacy for patients because there are many medical
conditions that may make them embarrassed patients like talking about
contraceptives, vaginal infections and epilepsy.
The pharmacist should be in the same level with the patient (sitting or standing),
sitting makes the communication more comfortable. If there is no specific
counseling area, then the pharmacist should take the chair behind the counter
and put it in front of the patient and in the same level.
4-
posture: postures the pharmacist should avoid are:
Tapping feet indicates tension and stress.
Fidgeting hands.
Cracking fingers.
A slouched or bent posture may suggest lack of interest.
Crossed legs.
Gums
If there is a mismatching between the verbal and non-verbal message, patients
always choose the non-verbal one.
5- Touch: social touch such as a handshake and consoling touch (arm or hand
used to calm a distressed patient) are very effective and give some sort of
emotional support. (Patients seek emotional support more than the
financial one)
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SHEET L.04 SLIDE 2(Basic communication skills in pharmacy practice)
February 13, 2017


Why do we need to make a communication with patients?
patient education and counseling
Collecting patients' information.
What are the information that we collect during the conversation with
patients?
- full name
- gender
- date of birth (DOB)/age
- social history
- chronic and acute medical conditions
- surgical history
- Drugs list (including all OTC, prescribed and herbal supplements).
- Signs and symptoms (the onset, aggravating and alleviating factors and
intensity – to be able to make a correct differential diagnosis).
 Things that pharmacists often do while communicating with patients:
(Large number of communication skills are not applied by many pharmacists)
1- Many pharmacists forget to introduce themselves to patients and many of
them don't put nametags.
2- Sometimes pharmacists don't let patients talk and interact properly, they
only take what they want from patients (failure to find out what bothers
patients and what are their worries, concerns and issues).
3- Sometimes pharmacists end the conversation with patients very fast and
accept many vague information that are not clear.
For example, when pharmacists ask patients about their blood glucose control,
blood pressure and sugar and salt intake, they may answer with ‫عادي‬the word
This is not acceptable, the patient may have a blood glucose reading of 300mg/dl
and consider it normal because the previous readings were 600 and 900 mg/dl,
there is a good control in the glucose levels of the patient but the current reading
is not considered within the normal range.
So in general, patients must bespecific when they tell pharmacists about their
medications (the way of taking them, frequency and time) and their diets (low salt
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SHEET L.04 SLIDE 2(Basic communication skills in pharmacy practice)
February 13, 2017
diet, low carbs diet). And pharmacists on the other hand must ask patients in
order to understand correctly.
4- As it was mentioned, pharmacists should let patients ask, talk and interact.
5- Sometimes pharmacists are irresponsive to patients' questions and they do
not show interest and excitement and this will for sure affects the
communication.
6- Some pharmacists don’t apply the verbal and non-verbal communication
properly.
7- Sometimes pharmacists avoid asking patients certain questions because
they may consider them personal. Many situations require asking specific
and personal questions, for example: a female patient comes to the
pharmacy with vaginal itching, some details and questions should be asked
in order to give the right treatment for that condition.
8- Closed ended questions make the communication less effective (for
example, when talking about a certain condition and asking did it happen to
you or not? It is better to ask what are the symptoms, describe the
symptoms and when did they start).
9- Allowing interruptions: phone calls for example.
10-Sometime pharmacists don't fully understand patients' own viewpoints
about their treatments.
 barriers to communication:
1- perception prejudice (‫)التحيز‬
Some male pharmacists for example may favor female patients and vice versa.
Sometimes prejudice includes religion (not here in Jordan).
Appearances and different social classes may be considered as barriers that affect
the communication between pharmacists and patients (patients who are
considered good looking/good smell get special treatment). Pharmacists should
treat all patients the same way despite their different
appearances/religion/nationality (professionalism).
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SHEET L.04 SLIDE 2(Basic communication skills in pharmacy practice)
February 13, 2017
2- environment:
- no specific counseling area (no privacy)
- Noise and interruptions.
- Pharmacy counters.
3- pharmacist related personal factors:
- Non-verbal message – patient expression and body language.
- Knowledge, skills and confidence.
4- Receiver related problems: situational factors (bad day/car won't start) and
patients' mood affect the communication. Educational level may be
considered as a barrier but pharmacists should communicate with different
types of patients with different educational levels.
5- Management: low level of support and commitment to pharmacy care.
6- Time: pharmacists are number one excuse.
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SHEET L.04 SLIDE 2(Basic communication skills in pharmacy practice)
February 13, 2017
‫ال خيل عندك تهديها وال مال‬
‫فليسعد النطق ان لم يسعد الحال‬
Sahar ALazzam
Danya ALjabrah
Eman alamayreh
Sahar ALazzam
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