It’s a bit like a diary’ (7) information included in the SPA needs to be endorsed by a trustworthy source, (8) SPA to include links for further advice including social networking facilities, ‘building something social into the app so kind of use the app to chat to other patients as well, share your feelings’ and (9) using the SPA would improve care and make patients feel more empowered, ‘it’s kind of empowering to be able to kind of log
your own process. The large volume of information given to patients has shown to be ineffective in dealing with patients’ information needs and ADR management, with patients feeling this website cut off from help once they are back at home. The use of an SPA is acceptable to patients for accessing information to manage ADRs as well as keeping in touch
with their healthcare team. These findings pave the way for the introduction of SPAs to support patients on oral chemotherapy with potential for pharmacists to take on the role of monitors, triaging alerts accordingly. 1. Nabhani-Gebara S, Kayyali R, Olszewska A. Patient Perception of Educational Materiel Surrounding their Cancer treatment. Eur J Oncol Nurs 2012; 16: S30. 2. Moretti F, van Vliet L, Bensing J, Deledda G, Mazzi M, Rimondini M,
Zimmermann C, Fletcher I. A standardized approach BMS-777607 manufacturer to qualitative content analysis of focus group discussions from different countries. Teicoplanin Patinet Educ Couns 2011; 82: 420–428. Michelle King, Fiona Kelly, Sara McMillan, Adem Sav, Jennifer Whitty, Amanda Wheeler Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia Pharmacy staff know little about the roles and needs of carers despite them being regular clients of the pharmacy The burden of being a carer may result in sacrifices, including the health of the carer Carers want information and assistance that can help relieve their burden Pharmacy can support the health needs of carers, and provide information and signposting to relevant services Carers are regular clients of community pharmacy but are often overlooked as pharmacy staff focus on the prescriptions or needs of the person they care for. Unless carers divulge information about their role and how it affects them, pharmacy staff are often oblivious to what that role entails. This lack of awareness may mean that opportunities to ease the carer’s burden are missed.