Empowerment Provided by Health Education and its Impact on Self-care: Report of a Pharmaceutical Intervention

Abstract

Older people, due to the development of multiple morbidities and in a situation of polypharmacy, become fragile in addition to their own physical and organic aging. For different reasons regarding the treatment, the health care provided, or the physical and mental condition of older people, problems of adherence to pharmacotherapy are present. Pharmaceutical care is an important practice to ensure rational pharmacotherapy for this population. The present study aims to describe the report of pharmacotherapeutic follow-up to a hospitalized older individual with multimorbidity and use of polypharmacy and to highlight an intervention aimed at adherence to pharmacotherapy. This is the planning of a strategy, aimed at promoting health education, which was carried out during the hospital stay of an older person who was included in the institution's pharmaceutical care services. In addition, at hospital discharge, in order to ensure greater benefits, a bag was made for the correct storage of medicines and a descriptive didactic list on how to use them. In this way, improvements were achieved in the transition of care for this patient. The importance of developing techniques that promote adherence to pharmacotherapy, especially for fragile populations, such as older people with multiple diseases, and using polypharmacy is suggested. Individualized educational interventions are instructive measures that can contribute to people's autonomy in their self-care.