The pharmacist’s responsibility and role in teaching children and adolescents about medicines

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to emphasize the pharmacist’s responsibility and role in teaching children and adolescents about medicines. Overview: Children are important consumers of medicines. Communicating with children is diff erent from communicating with adults in two distinct ways. First, communication with children typically involves three people: the pharmacist, he child, and the parent of the child. Second, when educating children about medicines, one needs to communicate at a level that is appropriate for the cognitive developmental level of the child. The article focuses on: (a) the need for educating children and their parents about medicines, (b) the importance of using a patient-centered style with children and parents, (c) how to understand the cognitive developmental level of a child, (d) strategies for communicating with and empowering children at diff erent ages about their medicines, (e) what children want to know about medicines at diff erent ages, and (f) assessing family barriers to medication adherence. Summary: It is important to make sure that both parents and children are appropriately educated about their medicines. Pharmacists need to make sure to use an empowering “patient-centered” interaction style when interacting with parents and children. Also, pharmacists need to remember to assess the cognitive developmental level of children through the use of open-ended questions