Health Promotion for Pharmacists

Considers health promotion in the context of pharmacy practice and shows how pharmacists can encourage their customers to lead healthier lifestyles by offering advice and information. It discusses the effects of smoking, diet and alcohol on health, family planning, drug misuse, and child health.

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During the last decade, the importance of health promotion has been increasingly recognized. Pharmacists, particularly those working in the community, are ideally placed to offer advice on a healthy lifestyle. This book aims to inform pharmacists about major health topics, using a practical approach and incorporating case studies. The epidemiology and risk factors for the major preventable diseases, coronary heart disease, and cancer, are presented in detail and the role of risk factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, and exercise are summarized. Also included are sections on family planning, drug misuse, baby and child health, and the rapidly growing field of screening and diagnostic testing in the pharmacy. The authors show what pharmacists can achieve in health promotion, stressing the social and behavioural aspects of health promotion. There are key chapters on inequality of health care, problems in achieving behavioural change, and the importance of good communication.