In order to release information about participants' use of the healthcare system, the health ministry required people to sign a 16-page consent form as they joined up. The consent agreement itself was only two pages, but it went on to cover the role of everyone involved. That frightened off many people, with the result that it took almost seven months to recruit the number of participants necessary. Participants will be assigned a code number to protect their identity. As part of the project, participants picking up their medication receive detailed information about their prescription, as well as lifestyle and disease management information and handouts related to their condition.
Pharmacists follow up with phone calls to gauge patient progress.
A consulting firm is currently doing a baseline questionnaire with everyone who signed up for the program. The pilot will be documented and monitored at three, six, nine and 12 months. Participants will be asked how many days they were absent this year compared to last year. Andy LaPointe, a staff pharmacist at Ross Drugs, says there was a fair bit of work involved for pharmacists in signing people up for the study. But we feel it will have a benefit down the road.