Evaluating the internalisation of the intrinsic role of health advocacy of student pharmacists in a new integrated Bachelor of Pharmacy curriculum: a mixed-methods study.

To keep up with the contemporary health landscape, there is an imperative need for healthcare professionals to practise health advocacy through health promotion on the individual, population, and systems levels. In the Academic Year of 2020/2021, the National University of Singapore (NUS) Department of Pharmacy implemented a new spiral curriculum integrating basic, clinical, and systems sciences with one of its aims to deepen students' health advocacy internalisation and prepare them as future health advocates. A mixed-methods approach was adopted. Questionnaires were disseminated across three time-points to elicit students' levels of internalisation of health advocacy, which were then categorised into levels, and a Mann-Whitney U test was conducted. In comparison with prematriculation, no significant difference was found after students underwent the first year of the curriculum, while a significant difference was found after students underwent two years of the curriculum. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted after each Academic Year to gain deeper insights into the questionnaire results. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed that curricular integration in the first year was perceived to be lacking. However, with learnt knowledge constantly reinforced and more experiential learning opportunities incorporated throughout the second year, students found the integrated curriculum beneficial in instilling confidence to practise health advocacy. This study offers insights into the prospects of a spiral integrated curriculum in imparting health advocacy, and may even suggest its potential to be applied to other educational settings. Future follow-up studies can also be conducted on the same study population to evaluate long-term impacts and areas for improvement of the curriculum.

Clinical activities that contributed to the effectiveness of a cardiologist-pharmacist collaborative care model in managing diabetes.

OBJECTIVES: The primary objectives of this study were to evaluate the change in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and its association to clinical activities. The secondary objective was to elucidate moderators of the relationship between pharmacist-involved collaborative care (PCC) and change in HbA1c. METHODS: This study was a retrospective cohort study conducted in a tertiary hospital over 12 months. Individuals with Type 2 diabetes, aged ≥21 years with established cardiovascular diseases were included while individuals with incomplete care documentation or missing data related to cardiovascular diseases were excluded. Individuals under the care of PCC were matched 1:1 based on baseline HbA1c with an eligible person who received care from the cardiologists (CC). Changes in mean HbA1c were analysed using linear mixed model. Linear regression was used to determine clinical activities that associated with improvement in HbA1c. Moderation analyses were conducted using the MacArthur framework. KEY FINDINGS: A total of 420 participants (PCC:210, CC:210) were analysed. The mean age of the participants was 65.6 ± 11.1 years, with the majority being male and Chinese. The mean HbA1c among participants in the PCC group decreased significantly after 6 months (PCC: -0.4% versus CC: -0.1%, P = 0.016), with maintenance of improvement at 12 months (PCC: -0.4% versus CC: -0.2%, P < 0.001). Frequencies of lifestyle counselling, reinforcement of visits to healthcare providers, health education, resolution of drug-related problems, emphasis on medication adherence, dose adjustments and advice on self-care techniques were significantly higher in the intervention group (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Improvements in HbA1c were associated with the provision of health education and medication adjustments.

Enhancing diabetes care with community pharmacist-involved collaborative care model: A multi-centre randomised controlled trial.

AIM: To evaluate the clinical and humanistic outcomes of a community pharmacist-involved collaborative care model in diabetes management. METHODS: This was a parallel arm, open-label, multi-centre randomized controlled trial conducted over 6 months. Subjects with type 2 diabetes, HbA1c ≥ 7.0% (53 mmol/mol) and taking ≥ 5 medications were included. Participants were randomized into intervention (collaborative care) and control groups (physician-centric care). The intervention included medication therapy management and telephonic follow-up with visits to family physicians, nurses, and dietitians. Clinical outcomes included changes in HbA1c, systolic blood pressure (SBP), lipids, and hypoglycaemic incidences. Humanistic outcomes included self-care capabilities and quality of life. Linear mixed models were constructed. Intention-to-treat analyses, with sensitivity analyses, were conducted. RESULTS: A total of 264 participants were randomized (intervention: 131, control: 133). Significantly greater reduction in HbA1c was observed in the intervention group (intervention: -0.32% (-3.52 mmol/mol) vs. control: -0.06% (-0.66 mmol/mol), p = 0.038). Changes in SBP, lipids, and incidences of hypoglycaemia were not significant over 6 months between both groups. Significantly greater improvements in self-management (p < 0.001) and quality of life (p = 0.003) were observed within the intervention group. CONCLUSION: Partnering community pharmacists in a collaborative care team improved glycaemic control, quality of life and self-care capabilities of patients with diabetes and polypharmacy.

Long-term clinical and cost-effectiveness of collaborative care in people with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus and polypharmacy: A multicenter randomized controlled trial.

AIMS: This study examined the effectiveness of a collaborative care model on clinical and humanistic outcomes, medical cost, productivity loss, and its cost-effectiveness in managing uncontrolled Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: A randomized controlled study was conducted in two outpatient health institutions in Singapore. Patients aged above 21 years with HbA1c > 7% and polypharmacy were included. Eligible patients were randomized into the intervention (collaborative care) and control (usual care) arms. RESULTS: A total of 255 patients were included in the analysis. Compared to the control arm, the intervention arm achieved significantly greater glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) reduction (mean difference: 0.25, 95%CI: [0.001, 0.50], p = 0.049) and quality-adjusted life year (QALY) (+0.011, 95%CI: [0.003, 0.019], p = 0.011) at 12 months. The costs per additional HbA1c and QALY improvements over one year were $40.52 and $920.91 respectively. Activity impairment was lower in the intervention group both at 6 months (12.7% vs 19.0%; p = 0.022) and at 12 months (6.7% vs 14.0%; p = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: The collaborative care model achieved earlier HbA1c reduction and reduced patients' activity impairment without decreasing work productivity or increasing medical costs. This intervention is cost-effective for improving glycemic control and quality of life in patients with T2DM.

Association between gaps in antihypertensive medication adherence and injurious falls in older community-dwelling adults: a prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: Growing evidence suggests that older adults are at an increased risk of injurious falls when initiating antihypertensive medication, while the evidence regarding long-term use of antihypertensive medication and the risk of falling is mixed. However, long-term users who stop and start these medications may have a similar risk of falling to initial users of antihypertensive medication. Our aim was to evaluate the association between gaps in antihypertensive medication adherence and injurious falls in older (≥65 years) community-dwelling, long-term (≥≥1 year) antihypertensive users. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Irish Community Pharmacy. PARTICIPANTS: Consecutive participants presenting a prescription for antihypertensive medication to 106 community pharmacies nationwide, community-dwelling, ≥65 years, with no evidence of cognitive impairment, taking antihypertensive medication for ≥1 year (n=938). MEASURES: Gaps in antihypertensive medication adherence were evaluated from linked dispensing records as the number of 5-day gaps between sequential supplies over the 12-month period prior to baseline. Injurious falls during follow-up were recorded via questionnaire during structured telephone interviews at 12 months. RESULTS: At 12 months, 8.1% (n=76) of participants reported an injurious fall requiring medical attention. The mean number of 5-day gaps in medication refill behaviour was 1.47 (SD 1.58). In adjusted, modified Poisson models, 5-day medication refill gaps at baseline were associated with a higher risk of an injurious fall during follow-up (aRR 1.18, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.37, p=0.024). CONCLUSION: Each 5-day gap in antihypertensive refill adherence increased the risk of self-reported injurious falls by 18%. Gaps in antihypertensive adherence may be a marker for increased risk of injurious falls. It is unknown whether adherence-interventions will reduce subsequent risk. This finding is hypothesis generating and should be replicated in similar populations.