Pharmaceutical service design to improve the accessibility of visual/hearing impaired patients

BARRIENTOS, BRUNO; GRICH, AGUSTINA; GAUNA, JUAN CRUZ; MACHACA, MATÍAS; REAL, JUAN PABLO; ANGEL VILLEGAS, NATALIA; FORMICA, LINA; CAMPAGNO, LUCIANA PAULA; PALMA SANTIAGO DANIEL

Córdoba

Congreso; Ricifa 2020+1; 2021

RICIFA

Abstract: Disability refers to any limitation in the activity, given by the interaction of a person with a health condition and contextual factors, to function in the daily life. About 15% of the world´s population has some kind of disability and 2000 million people are visually or hearing impaired. The objective of this work was to design a Pharmaceutical Service aimed at improving accessibility and pharmaceutical care for patients with impaired visual and/or hearing abilities who visit a pharmacy. For this purpose, within the framework of Community Pharmacy subject, a review of bibliographic sources about the characteristics and particular needs of this group of patients and its prevalence was carried out, as well as the influence of pharmacy accessibility on their health care quality. The result was the design of SSAP: Specialized Service for Accessible Pharmacies, a personalized care service that consists on providing pharmaceutical care using electronic devices with an interactive system and reading/labeling material in Braille inside the pharmacy, followed by monitoring the patient using adapted Apps. With an initial investment of $30,000, very low monthly fixed costs (approximately $1,000) and no costs for the user,this service has the potential to increase the profitability of the pharmacy by attracting new patients, and its ethical-social value due to would represent a substantial improvement in patient communication and its pharmaceutical care