| Complementary
health care (CHC) is an exciting 'niche market' that fits well in
Pharmacy. CHC is not for everyone and nor will it fit into each
consumer demographic. With the increased consumer awareness of their
own health needs and a society that is becoming increasingly computer
and Internet literate, the Pharmacist is being confronted with a
unique experience. The 'health' consumer wants your 'interpretation'
of the data they have discovered and they want the Pharmacist's
advice as to whether this data is correct as well. At the end of
all of this discussion, if agreement is reached the consumer may
be in a position to purchase a product(s) from you.
The
dilemma faced by Pharmacists is that this area of health care
is so diverse that it is a whole new area of study and practice.
Many Pharmacists' do not have the time and /or inclination to
enter into this area in a major way and will stock a few good
brands of Vitamins and supplements and stay out of the big market.
Others will employ a well-trained Pharmacy assistant who has an
interest and knowledge in this area to manage the section, while
others will actually employ a 'Naturopath' or similar trained
practitioner to manage the section.
There
are many Pharmacists who want to take this a step further and
they have decided to extend their own knowledge base and competency
in Natural therapies. There are many courses available in this
area but the most exciting news for Pharmacists is the development
of the 'Australian Centre for Complementary Medicine Education
and Research'. (www.uq.edu.au/accmer/) . ACCMER is a collaboration
project between the University of Queensland and Southern Cross
University. The project involves the development of postgraduate
education programs in complementary medicine for the health disciplines
of Pharmacy, Dentistry, Medicine and other health professionals.
ACCMER
hopes to have a certificate course in complementary medicine for
Pharmacists available by 2003. The development team is currently
developing a questionnaire for Pharmacists to evaluate what areas
of complementary medicines they have knowledge in and what in
particular they would find of worth in the course.
The
Pharmacy I manage has had a Naturopath on staff for about five
years now as we identified the rapid expansion in consumer demand
in this area and that the Pharmacists were in short supply and
unable to meet the counselling demands of both professional Pharmacy
and Natural therapies. To practice well in Natural therapies you
need just as much knowledge and professional ability as you do
to be a good Pharmacist. Initially we set some guidelines, as
the Chief Pharmacist is ultimately responsible for all allied
health practitioners who practice in the Pharmacy (see PSA Pharmacy
Practice Handbook 2000 P.106 and your relevant Pharmacy Board
guidelines). As the practice developed it became increasingly
clear that there is a HUGE consumer market to be tapped into but
that this needs to be done with ethical and professional guidance
of both the Pharmacy regulatory bodies and the Natural Therapies
regulatory bodies. We then decided to become a member of the 'Complementary
Healthcare Council of Australia.' (chc@chc.org.au ) This organisation
is in its infancy but has made great progress in the practice
of natural therapies by developing guidelines and codes of practice.
For
many years it has been an anomaly that Pharmacists could sell
'practitioner only' products to consumers while Naturopaths could
only sell these products if they had performed a consultation
or if the consumer has a current prescription from another natural
therapist. Many consumers were staying on supplements for many,
many months with no follow up or assessment being performed. We
identified that this problem applied to 'practitioner only' products
and general vitamin lines like Saw palmetto, St John's wort etc.
We are currently 'retraining' our consumers that they must present
a 'prescription' for their 'practitioner only' medications and
that they must have regular follow up visits with the Naturopath.
To
also help overcome this problem the Naturopaths have developed
a training program for the Pharmacy assistants that is generic
in nature and easy to follow. It follows the basic principles
of the S2/S3 guidelines on what questions to ask and when to refer
on to the Naturopath/Pharmacist. The Pharmacy assistants identify
regular consumers of natural therapies and ask a standard set
of questions to try and ascertain if the consumer is receiving
benefit from the therapy and if there are any problems that should
be explored further by consultation with the Naturopath.
The
protocols we put in place had initial resistance from the consumers
but by a consistent message of 'caring for the consumers health
outcome' we have been able to persuade most consumers of the need
for appropriate counselling when they request natural health products
and that there is value in a consultation with the Naturopath
if they have a health or nutritional problem.
To
be able to provide this service has needed a fairly large capital
expenditure over time to provide the Naturopaths with the equipment
and resources they need to perform their role in a professional
manner but the customer numbers and return on investment has been
well worth it. We started off small and grew slowly but the trick
was to keep advertising the services we provide and to employ
good, professional Naturopaths. These practitioners are as hard
to find as good Pharmacists and hopefully there will soon be a
register of Complementary Health Practitioners in place to sort
the charlatans out of the industry.
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