Factors to Consider in Tailoring Patient Counseling
(yes, ilfyn.wordpress.com is also me.)
1. Patient
Age
For paediatric or geriatric patients, it is best to ask for their companion, and counsel them instead, especially in the case of very young children.
Cultural background
Culture may affect a patient’s perception of the illness, or the purpose/effectiveness of the medication.
Disability
Do NOT automatically offer to help the patient, unless emergency care/assistance is urgently needed. The patient may see it as potentially insulting or condescending. Special patient education materials may have to be prepared for patients with disabilities.
Lifestyle and employment
Call center agents who work in graveyard shifts are particularly in need of special dosing schedules. Dose schedules must be prepared to suit the patient’s waking and sleeping times, as well as their typical meal times. Side effects also have to be explained, such as drowsiness, or other effects that may alter the work performance of the patient.
Gender and socio-economic status
Embarrassing and offending situations can be avoided through careful articulation, depending on what kind of patient you are facing. In particular, some patient’s names may be gender-ambiguous, or may otherwise appear androgynous, and referring to someone as the opposite gender may be embarrassing. Transsexuals may have preferences as to how they are addressed, and the same goes for intersex individuals.
2. Drug
Prescription AND Non-prescription Drugs
Taking the medication history of the patient is an important part of patient counseling, and it also precedes the counseling proper. Any herbal supplements, dietary supplements, or folk remedies that the person is taking has to also be taken into account, as there are herbs and vitamins which may have drug interactions with the drug that the patient is taking.
Risk level
Prevention of side-effects
Route of Administration
Not all drug products have intuitive design or administration. The
1. Patient
Age
For paediatric or geriatric patients, it is best to ask for their companion, and counsel them instead, especially in the case of very young children.
Cultural background
Culture may affect a patient’s perception of the illness, or the purpose/effectiveness of the medication.
Disability
Do NOT automatically offer to help the patient, unless emergency care/assistance is urgently needed. The patient may see it as potentially insulting or condescending. Special patient education materials may have to be prepared for patients with disabilities.
Lifestyle and employment
Call center agents who work in graveyard shifts are particularly in need of special dosing schedules. Dose schedules must be prepared to suit the patient’s waking and sleeping times, as well as their typical meal times. Side effects also have to be explained, such as drowsiness, or other effects that may alter the work performance of the patient.
Gender and socio-economic status
Embarrassing and offending situations can be avoided through careful articulation, depending on what kind of patient you are facing. In particular, some patient’s names may be gender-ambiguous, or may otherwise appear androgynous, and referring to someone as the opposite gender may be embarrassing. Transsexuals may have preferences as to how they are addressed, and the same goes for intersex individuals.
2. Drug
Prescription AND Non-prescription Drugs
Taking the medication history of the patient is an important part of patient counseling, and it also precedes the counseling proper. Any herbal supplements, dietary supplements, or folk remedies that the person is taking has to also be taken into account, as there are herbs and vitamins which may have drug interactions with the drug that the patient is taking.
Risk level
Prevention of side-effects
Route of Administration
Not all drug products have intuitive design or administration. The