Public understanding of drug therapy.

British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
Andrew Herxheimer

Abstract

Knowing some basic principles about medicines would help patients to understand drug therapy and to help and encourage them to use it well. These principles relate to the categories and names of drugs, their different uses, how they reach the site of action (absorption, distribution, fate), how they produce their effects, both beneficial and harmful, the time courses of drug actions, how the pattern and intensity of the effects of a drug depend on dose and timing, drug interactions, how drug effects are demonstrated and investigated and sources of information and their trustworthiness. These basic principles are an essential part of health literacy and understanding them would enable individuals to comprehend better the information that they are likely to receive about medicines that they will take. Different populations need different types of education. For schoolchildren, the principles could fit into biology and domestic science teaching, starting in the later years of primary school or early in secondary school. A teaching package would also be needed for their teachers. For adults, web-based learning seems the most practical option. Web-based programmes could be supported by the NHS and professional bodies and through pub...Continue Reading

References

Nov 23, 2006·British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology·J K Aronson
May 29, 2008·The British Journal of General Practice : the Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners·Jeffrey K Aronson

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Citations

May 10, 2013·European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology·Petra A Thürmann
Oct 21, 2015·Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice·Agnes VitryElizabeth Roughead

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