Research Article Open Access

To Assess the Change in “Quality of Care Leading to Change in Outcome” When a Pharmacist Joins the Conventional Alcohol De-Addiction Treatment Team in a Residential De-addiction Centre at Chennai, Tamilnadu, India

Abstract

Alcoholism is a time bomb ticking to explode anytime. In alcohol de-addiction there is a clear need for a pharmacist as, The treatment involves medicines, continuous monitoring of patient, The success depends on pharmacotherapy, health maintenance & also Psychotherapy in coordination with a psychiatrist and a physician, counseling the addict as well as the family of the addict, The integrated involvement of all resources, environment and the approach including the communication and clarity of the treatment process and help required to the pharmacist. The main aim of the present study was to identify the gaps as a pharmacist and bridge the same to increase the success rates of the entire de-addiction program. 6 basic parameters were indentified and changes were brought in the centre to observe the change in the outcomes. They were the language of use, the communication aid language, the comfort at the centre, the environmental motivation, the medication adherence and the counselors behavior with the addict. After initial observation with the prevailing circumstances at the centre, certain changes were made in the language, in the communication aid, the medication dispensing procedure, the environment and the behavior of the counselor with the addict. The responses were sought and were analysed. The total score of all the parameters was extremely significant (P<0.0001) after the changes were implemented to bring in a conducive atmosphere at the centre. The addition of a pharmacist can be considered an essential requirement in such scenario where the pharmacological and the non-pharmacological treatments play a vital role in improving the success rates of the outcomes.

Aravamuthan Anandhasayanam, Subramaniam Kannan, Nandha Kumar, Senthi Kumar, and Manoj G Tyagi

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