Pharmacists solving problems in asthma management — experiences from a one-year intervention programme in Finland

Objective — To study the effect of an intervention provided by community pharmacists on detection and resolution of problems in asthma patients' self-management and to study patients' opinions about the perceived usefulness of the pharmacists' input. Method — A one-year intervention study was conducted with scheduled visits and follow-ups at baseline, four, eight and 12 months. Study patients (n=28) acted as their own controls. Setting — Four communities and community pharmacies in different parts of Finland. Key findings — At study baseline, all patients had at least one documented problem, the most commonly reported being problems with medication, side effects, problems with inhalation devices and not using asthma medicines according to the physician's instructions. On average, patients had five “intervention” consultations with the pharmacist during the one-year study. After the intervention, half of the patients reported that their problems had been resolved. The most useful areas of advice were considered by the patients to be instructions about changing asthma medication according to asthma symptoms and management of asthma symptoms. Twenty-five of the 28 patients reported that they were satisfied with the education and counselling provided by pharmacists, a higher number than for physicians or nurses. Conclusion — The findings from this small longitudinal study indicate that community pharmacists can improve asthma patients' treatment by consultations during which they identify and address problems in self-management of asthma.