Where do your chronically-ill patients find support?
Your independent community pharmacy can provide expert knowledge on the prescriptions and products needed to manage a lifelong illness, such as diabetes. And, while the personal touch your business delivers to help a patient cope with a chronic illness diagnosis is superb, sometimes what patients living with a chronic condition need is support and encouragement from similarly-affected individuals.
Implementing community support groups can create an environment of hope and positivity for individuals with chronic conditions. They also provide a welcome space for chronically-ill patients to learn how to cope with the emotional stress related to their disease, to learn how to properly manage their condition and to get the chance to meet other patients who know exactly what they’re going through.
Here are five tips to start a successful support group at your independent pharmacy.
1. Choose an area of focus
The first step to organize an effective support group is to determine what condition to focus on.
To do this, conduct an analysis of your patient base. Who’s coming to your pharmacy? What prescriptions are you filling the most? What supplementary products for chronic conditions are purchased most in your front end?
If a majority of your pharmacy’s patients are diabetic, implementing a diabetes support group might be the smartest choice to focus on.
2. Find inside and outside help
When implementing a support group, it’s prudent to use both inside and outside help.
Though your pharmacy team can help patients with breast cancer manage their medication regimen, you may not be as well-informed on the mental health aspect or non-pharmacy related treatment options for patients with breast cancer.
To make your pharmacy’s support group the best place for patients to receive aid and comfort, view it as a team effort.
Develop a partnership with local oncologists and ask them to speak at your support group. And, be sure to use the resources of cancer-specific organizations, like Susan G. Komen and the American Cancer Society.
3. Create a schedule
You, your patients and your pharmacy are busy. But a support group won’t provide value to patients if it’s just a one-and-done deal or if the schedule is sporadic.
Whether your pharmacy’s support group for patients meets once a week, once a month or once a year, it’s important to have a set timetable. Mark it in your pharmacy’s calendar and ask patients which dates and times work best for them.
Not only will patients appreciate a set date and time to refer to, they’ll also be more likely to develop a closer relationship with you and the other members in attendance if the meeting is held on a regular basis.
4. Recruit patients
For your independent pharmacy’s support group to be a success, you’ll have to endorse it.
An easy way to spread the word about your new support group is by posting on your pharmacy’s social media pages. Write a daily, weekly or monthly update letting patients know when the meeting will be held and include a short description of the benefits patients can receive from attending the session.
You can also recruit patients in personal consultations. For example, if you’re helping a patient with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) synchronize her medications, let her know about the monthly support group you offer for patients affected by HIV.
5. Learn what patients think
To determine how successful your pharmacy’s support group is, pick your patients’ brains.
Provide a quick questionnaire at the end of your support group sessions. Or, send out an email survey asking patients what you can do to improve your next meet-up. SurveyMonkey is a free tool that makes it easy to create questionnaires and surveys to email to patients.
Implementing a support group is just one way you can help patients living with a chronic condition. Discover five insights you can use to help patients with a chronic disease best use the digital and mobile health tools available to monitor their health.
