Patient-Pharmacist Communication Techniques

Abstract

If the pharmacist is to become an effective practitioner in the clinical area, he must develop his communicative skills. Techniques the pharmacist can utilize in interviewing institutionalized patients, with emphasis on many of the psychological aspects of illness, are discussed. A study is presented which was designed to test the ability of the pharmacist as an effective interviewer. In one phase of the study the pharmacist's medication history is compared to the physician's. Another phase of the study reveals the pharmacist's ability to detect overt adverse drug reactions.