Title: Bridging the gap; Moving beyond counting pills

Biography:

Dr Phyllis Kamau is a pharmacist, entrepreneur, consultant and patient advocate. She holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. She also holds a Bachelor’s in Biology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to provide a forum for discussion when it comes to diabetes health management. Drawing from my experience, some of the challenges that patients face when it comes to management of diabetes include lack of diabetes education, adoption of healthy lifestyle and poor adherence to medications. Lack of awareness that diabetes education is available would seem to be the biggest huddle that patients are yet to overcome because it requires guidance from a health care professional that there are resources available in order to fully understand how to manage diabetes. Adoption of healthy lifestyle such as healthy eating and physical activity would be a self-limiting factor in diabetes management because the patient has to be willing and ready to adopt this new way of life. Poor adherence to medications is a result of lack of clear understanding of how medications fit in, in the management of diabetes and how to mitigate the side effects experienced.

My research findings indicate that there are issues that patients do not disclose to their physician, while they feel comfortable disclosing to the pharmacist. Patients have multiple interactions with a pharmacist in a year compared to interactions with physicians thus pharmacists have a higher chance in addressing behaviors and empowering the patient to be proactive about managing their diabetes. Pharmacists working as an integral part of the healthcare team in managing the patient’s diabetes has shown favorable results for the patient.