Women’s needs should be considered when developing evidence-based information on weight. Excess weight places them at high risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, infertility and complications following pregnancy and giving birth. Women are also an important population group because they influence decision-making around meal choices for their families and are the biggest consumers of weight-loss products, many of which can be purchased in pharmacies. Pharmacies are readily accessible primary healthcare locations and given the pharmacist’s expertise in being able to recognise
underlying causes of obesity (e.g. medications, certain disease states), BIRB 796 cost pharmacies are an ideal location to provide women with evidence-based information on all facets of weight management. Considering the exponential rise in the use of the World Wide Web, this information could be delivered as an online educational resource supported by other flexible formats. The time has come for the development of an online, evidence-based educational resource on weight management, which is combined with other flexible formats and targeted at women in general and according to different phases of their lives (pregnancy, post-partum, menopause). By empowering
women with this knowledge it will allow them and their families to take better control of their health and wellbeing, and it may just be the much needed answer to complement already existing resources to help curb the obesity epidemic. “
“The objective of this research was to explore pharmacists’ knowledge
of, experiences selleck with and perception of factors interfering with their ability to provide non-prescription emergency contraceptive pill consultations in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. A self-administered paper questionnaire was mailed, using Dillman’s tailored design method, to all pharmacists (n = 1123) registered with the Nova Scotia College of Pharmacists. Resveratrol The response rate was 53.0% (595/1123), with 451 respondents working in community practice. Most respondents reported that they had provided consultations for the emergency contraceptive product Plan B since it became available without a prescription (93.6%), and that Plan B is kept behind the pharmacy counter (83.6%). Pharmacists most frequently (47.8%) reported spending 6–10 min providing Plan B consultations. Respondents were generally knowledgeable about Plan B; however, only 39.2% knew that it can be effective for up to 5 days and 69.3% knew that the incidence of vomiting is less than 50%. The factors interfering the most with providing Plan B consultations were lack of privacy (46.1%) and lack of staff to cover during the consultation (50.9%). In general, Nova Scotia pharmacists are knowledgeable about emergency contraceptive pills; however, education regarding effective timing for use of such pills would be helpful.