The development of an additional pharmaceutical service for patients with hypertension

Ljekarnici kao najdostupniji zdravstveni djelatnici imaju važnu ulogu u poboljšanju kvalitete života bolesnika što postižu kroz proces pružanja ljekarničke skrbi koji se sastoji od identifikacije terapijskog problema, razvoja plana skrbi te praćenja bolesnika. Ljekarničke usluge, koje čine srž same ljekarničke skrbi, podrazumijevaju sve usluge potrebne za rješavanje bolesnikovih terapijskih problema. Najčvršći dokazi o učinkovitosti ljekarničkih usluga postoje za prevenciju i kontrolu kroničnih bolesti, uključujući hipertenziju. Cilj ovog rada bio je ukazati na neizostavnu ulogu ljekarnika u uspješnijem liječenju i kontroli hipertenzije te predložiti model dodatne ljekarničke usluge u skrbi osoba oboljelih od hipertenzije. U izradi rada korišteni su znanstveni radovi iz časopisa dostupnih u bazama podataka Medline, ScienceDirect, PubMed Central i BioMed Central, te udžbenici i ostala dostupna literatura. Rezultati upućuju na model dodatne ljekarničke usluge u skrbi osoba oboljelih od hipertenzije koji obuhvaća tri razine: prevencija hipertenzije- promicanjem promjena životnih navika; otkrivanje hipertenzije- mjerenjem AT-a i probirom ostalih rizičnih čimbenika; kontroliranje bolesti- praćenjem ishoda liječenja antihipertenzivima. Provođenjem ove ljekarničke usluge smanjuju se štetni događaji vezani za lijekove i poboljšava kakvoća života bolesnika što u konačnici dovodi do smanjenog morbiditeta i mortaliteta.Community pharmacists are among the most accessible of healthcare professionals. They have an important role in improving the quality of health care. The process of pharmaceutical care itself consists of three components: identification of a drug therapy problem, care plan development and follow- up evaluation. Pharmaceutical services represent all the services that pharmacists require to resolve a patient’s drug therapy problems. There is a lot of evidence that can confirm the significant clinical benefits of pharmacist interventions for a range of major disease states and preventive health activities including hypertension. The aim of this paper is to show the indispensable role of the pharmacist in the successful treatment and control of hypertension, as well as, to propose a new model of services in the care of people suffering from hypertension. The reaserch for this work has been done through academic reasearch papers published in professional journals and available for review through the following databases: PubMed Central, ResearchGate, BioMed Central, Medline, ScienceDirect; textbooks and other literature. Community pharmacists can be involved in the care of people with hypertension at three different levels: primary prevention- the goal of this level is to promote healthy lifestyle; detection- the goal is to contribute to early detection of hypertension by measuring blood pressure and screening for other cardiovascular risk factors; management- the goal is to monitor patients receiving antihypertensive therapy. This pharmacists' service is associated with reduction in medicine-related adverse events and improved quality of life which leads to reduced morbidity and mortality