The Pharmacy Guild has called for expressions of interest from pharmacies wanting to take part in the chronic-pain MedsCheck trial.
At the Pharmacy Connect conference it was revealed that more than 300 pharmacies showed interest in taking part in the trial in the first days after the announcement.
Funded by the federal Department of Health as part of the 6CPA Pharmacy Trial Program, the trial’s objective is to evaluate the efficacy of the chronic-pain MedsCheck service in:
- Preventing incorrect use and/or overuse of pain medication.
- Increasing patients’ pain medication health literacy.
- Improving their ability to self-manage their chronic pain.
- Improving their overall quality of life.
The trial intervention from community pharmacy will include:
- Supported self-management of patients taking medication who are dealing with chronic pain for more than three months through pharmacist advice.
- Pharmacy-based evaluation of patients’ medicine.
- Provision of an action plan incorporating education, self-management and referral to other health professionals where additional support is required.
- Three-month follow up after the initial service.
The trial includes two randomly selected intervention groups: one involves an initial in-pharmacy face-to-face consultation between the pharmacist and the consumer and a three-month follow-up consultation; the other involves an initial in-pharmacy face-to-face consultation between the pharmacist and the consumer; a six-week midpoint follow-up consultation by telephone, and a three-month follow-up consultation.
From each group a number of evaluation pharmacies will also be randomly selected, to provide additional information on the intervention. These pharmacies will be appropriately remunerated for their additionally requested time.
The trial MedsCheck chronic-pain service will include provision of information about accessing additional support or, where appropriate, a referral to patients’ GP or allied health professional.
Community pharmacies delivering chronic pain MedsChecks will be encouraged to build relationships with other healthcare professionals providing support for patients with chronic pain.
For more information visit: http://6cpa.com.au/pharmacy-trial-program/chronic-pain-medscheck-trial/.
