Initiation of pharmacist–psychiatrist collaborative patient education in ambulatory care settings of a tertiary care teaching hospital in south India

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to initiate the pharmacist–psychiatrist collaborative patient education in ambulatory caresettings. A prospective cohort study was conducted in psychiatry out-patient department of a tertiary care teachinghospital over a period of 6 months. All the eligible patients were enrolled, and the necessary information was collected.The collected data were analyzed for medication adherence by using medication adherence rating scale and healthrelated quality of life by using the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire. Student t-test was usedto analyze the results at p-value <0.05. A total of 210 patients were analyzed and followed for a period of 6 months.When compared to the baseline values, a significant improvement in medication adherence and quality of life witheach follow-up at p-value <0.05 was observed. The study results have evidently proven that pharmacist–psychiatristcollaborative approach could significantly improve patient education and related clinical outcomes.