A Community Pharmacy-based Program to Improve Management of Diabetes

A trained pharmacist will counsel each patient based on his/her individual needs about medications, life style and self-care. The pharmacist will use a checklist to document the type of education delivered to each patient. A glucometer is provided for each patient in this arm to monitor blood glucose daily. Three to six visits to the community pharmacy are set during the 6-months study period. At each visit, medication related problems and self-care issues are discussed with the patient and the glucometer test strips are provided for the following month. A telephone call will be made to each patient between visits to ensure adherence to drug therapy and resolve any problems .

The baseline and 6-month follow-up visits to the community pharmacy will be required. If the physician prefers more visits to his office during the study period, it will be granted. The glucometer and a training session about diabetes self-care will be provide at the end of study for control group patients.