ONE OF THE MOST CRITICAL HEALTH ISSUES FACING THE NATION IS OBESITY. IN JUNE 2014, THE OECD REPORTED THAT MORETHAN ONE IN FOUR AUSTRALIAN ADULTS IS OBESE. OF CONCERN IS THAT, UNLIKE ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES WHERE OBESITY LEVELS HAVE STABILISED, AUSTRALIA'S OBESITY GROWTH RATES 'CONTINUE TO BE ROBUST. (OECD OBESITY UPDATE JUNE 2014)
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 'being overweight or obese increases a pe rson's risk of developing long-term health conditions including cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes.' (ABS Profiles of Health, Australia, 2011- 13)
PHARMACY IS PART OF THE SOLUTION
Pharmacy can play a greater role in turning around the obesity trend by helping patients change their behaviour - recording what they do help; the patients become more self-aware. In time, this will help prevent a broad range of other associated health issues. What better outcome would pharmacy patients want?
Pharmacists have the dist in ct advantage of their capacity to access patients' dispense history and can discuss options with them thoughtfully. After all, Pharmacists are highly trusted and the ideal experts to support patients' journeys to return to normal weight and, imJortantly, stay there.
The Guild's Discover More 'Ask your Pharmacist' campaign is driving more patients into pharmacy. So, now's a great time to )ffer them support with their New Year's resolutions, as some of them return to old habits.
GUILDCARE HELPS PHARMACISTS HELP PATIENTS
Unlike other programs, GuildCare helps pharmacies navigate professional service delivery with one seamless software solution. lt focuses on and enables the development of a patient centric model of care, inclu:ling personalised patient handouts. This is today's pharmacy best practice.
GuildCare is easy to use. It includes a range of Patient Services such as Blood Pressure, Vaccination and Weight Management. lmpromy is available exc.usively through selected pharmacies. It is a health and weight management program. This can be used on Guildcare once the pharmacy has subscribed di rectly to lmpromy. The program has been has been clinically tested by the CSIRO.
A new addition to GuildCare is ClickFit. It's a personalised program designed for all types of consumers with a large variety of options, to lose weight, improve health and fitness, or improve overall wellbeing. It's scientifically robust, deli vering weight loss of up to 6 kg in 12 weeks. ClickFit can be used alone ortogetherwith any of the leading meal replacements sold in pharmacy. ClickFit is available free of charge to GuildCare subscribers.
KEYS TO PHARMACY SUCCESS
Gone are the days where Pharmacies concentrate only on dispense and supply. With margins continuing to decline, GuildCare unlocks a growing number of revenue opportunities. This is also important for the patient as it enables the pharmacist to spport their quality of life in the long term.
The most successful GuildCare pharmacies have allocated a staff member to manage implementation. Setting goals for the staff is the next key componen t. Recording
everything in GuildCare allows review and ongoing management. This is a great feedback tool and also helps to motivate the staff. These key steps are not done in isolation. Another key factor for success is creating awareness of the services to provide by communicating to patients and other health professionals in the local area.
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