Every month on the calendar has a variety of official and unofficial holidays; January 12th is National Pharmacist Day. It’s a day set aside to honor pharmacists and their role in the medical field. You may think of pharmacists as the people in lab coats who count pills, but there’s much more to their roles.
Education
- Answering questions about your medications and potential side effects.
- Sharing ways to lessen medication side effects.
- Discussing potential drug interactions.
- Answering questions about over the counter medications.
- Offering information about topics such as smoking cessation, blood pressure, and management of chronic diseases such as diabetes.
Medication Compliance
- Some larger pharmacies can call you to remind you to pick up your medication or let you know it’s ready for pickup.
- Larger pharmacies may also offer delivery methods such as getting prescriptions in the mail to make it easier to access your medications.
- Switching the packaging of your medication so it’s easier to open, such as changing from a traditional bottle to blister packs (click here for our look at blister packs and the pharmacies that offer them).
- Pharmacists can also help you save money by recommending generic versions of your medications, sharing discount programs such as GoodRx, or suggesting a similar medication that costs less (we’ve covered other ways to save money on prescriptions on the blog before!)
Medication Management
- Reviewing your prescriptions and health conditions to check for potential negative interactions or side effects. Check with your pharmacist to see if this is an option.
- Sharing steps to take when using the medication, such as taking it in the evening or with a meal.
Medication Synchronization
- Scheduling all of a person’s medications so they can pick them up at the same time.
Vaccinations
- If you’ve gone to a place like CVS or Walgreens for your annual flu shot, chances are it was given to you by a pharmacist.
Make sure to check the Senior Resource Connect Online Senior Resource Directory for health resources in your community.
