Preventing Rx abuse, misuse

Medication misuse and abuse has continued to grow in the United States, with drug overdose now being the leading cause of accidental death. To learn more about how pharmacists can educate patients about proper prescription handling, Drug Store News spoke with Betsy Walker, Community Relations director at Cardinal Health, about its medication abuse prevention program, GenerationRx, as it launched its new branding and website initiatives.

DSN: A lot of RBC attendees are already using GenerationRx. What is new this year for the program?

Walker: We are unveiling our brand-new GenerationRx brand and website — GenerationRx.org. GenerationRx has been a partnership between Te Ohio State University College of Pharmacy and the Cardinal Health Foundation since 2009, and we’ve each maintained our own website to showcase the program. As the program has grown and developed, we’ve identified a real need for a single, comprehensive website for GenerationRx.

One of the new features on the site is the “Learn” section, which encourages GenerationRx users to share their experiences with their peers. At RBC, we’ll be chatting with pharmacists to hear their personal GenerationRx experiences, and sharing that information on GenerationRx.org for others to see around the country. Learning about how other independent pharmacists handle prescription drug abuse is invaluable to those considering involvement.

DSN: I understand you offer toolkits for a variety of audiences — what are these toolkits?

Walker: We focus on educating everyone about prescription drug misuse and how to take action. We spend a lot of time and effort researching the appropriate messaging to reach various audiences. While some of the key messages in our toolkits, like medication safety, is the same, the way we go about explaining it is very different. For example, the messaging in the toolkits for teaching medication safety to elementary school students is about understanding how medicine works and the role it plays in our health. However, the message we use when addressing medication safety with senior citizens is focused on medication adherence.

DSN: With those various audiences, where should a pharmacy start?

Walker: Pharmacists can begin educating the audience they feel most comfortable with or see most often. For example, if your pharmacy has more seniors, you can start with that population, and discuss GenerationRx through one-on-one counseling, or out in the senior centers and nursing home facilities in the community.

Also, the pharmacy owner doesn’t have to be the person going out into the community and doing the education. Pharmacy staff and/or student pharmacists can utilize the tools, too, and provide education on behalf of their pharmacy. Involvement in GenerationRx can help build the pharmacy’s reputation as the healthcare professionals in their community. By educating the community about medication safety and prescription drug misuse, it highlights them as healthcare destinations.

DSN: When you talk to pharmacists about GenerationRx, what are their biggest challenges?

Walker: One thing we always hear from pharmacists is that they don’t feel like they have time for this. However, every single day, several times a day, the pharmacist is consulting with their patients, whether it’s on the phone or in the pharmacy. I would encourage them to incorporate the GenerationRx key messages into every- day conversations. Just like they would educate a patient with diabetes every time they pick up insulin, they would provide ongoing safety education with patients picking up a controlled substance, using pain medication for the first time, etc.