Biomedical subjects

Marja Airaksinen

Publications and source records attributed to Marja Airaksinen.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Developing a medicine education program in Finland: lessons learned.

The aim of this article is to describe the process of developing a medicine education program for elementary and middle schools in Finland and the lessons learned during the process. Further described is how teachers evaluated the usefulness of the medicine education materials created during the process. By medicine education we mean education about the proper use of medicines, abuse of medicines being just a small part of it. The development process started in 2002 by conducting focus group discussions with children in order to discover how children of different ages understand medicine-related topics. Moreover, teachers completed questionnaires in 2002 to assess their opinions about the importance of medicine education as a part of school health education. Based on the results of these two studies, materials were created during 2002-2003 (, in Finnish with an English introduction). These materials gave the teachers information about the proper use of medicines and some ideas for assignments. As a last part of this research project in autumn 2003, the materials were piloted by a group of elementary and middle school teachers (n=14), and the usefulness of the materials were evaluated during focus group discussions after a teaching period. Based on the evaluation, we learned that the Website should contain a simple structure and ready-to-use materials in order to be used by teachers. Moreover, the fact that teachers need information in order to be able to teach this unfamiliar topic became clear. Teachers of younger children need concise information, but teachers of adolescents need more in-depth information. Furthermore, teachers may have negative attitudes towards medicines, and therefore, medicine education should be rationalized for them. We conclude our article with recommendations on what should be taken into consideration when medicine education programs are planned.

Finland↗

PubMed2005

Self-medication with antibiotics--does it really happen in Europe?

AIMS AND METHODS: The aim of this study was to determine whether antibiotics are used for self-medication in southern Spain, a region belonging to European Union. The data were collected by a survey in the Costa del Sol region, Spain during 2002 by using a convenience sample of 1000 Finns living permanently in the area (response rate 53%, n=530). RESULTS: Antibiotics were used by 28% of the respondents during the previous 6 months before the query. Of the antibiotic users, 41% had bought their antibiotics without a prescription. Clearly the most common indication for antibiotic use was common cold, with almost half (45%) of the antibiotic users reporting it as purpose of medication, followed by sore throat (17%). The number of courses did not differ between prescription and non-prescription antibiotic users, most (64%) of the users having used one course. Neither did the groups differ according to background variables used, including the frequency of experiencing adverse reactions. CONCLUSIONS: Unnecessary and unrational self-medication with antibiotics seems to be common in southern Spain among Finnish immigrants. This may indicate that Spanish health care system, including community pharmacies are failing their task in enhancing rational use of medicines. It is important that all the member countries within EU will take their responsibility in promoting public health goals in their national policy, e.g., in minimising the antibiotic resistance for expanding.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

How well can children understand medicine related topics?

The aim of this study was to discover how well children understand medicine related topics and in this way to evaluate their preparedness for two-way communication about these matters. The data were collected by conducting 14 focus group discussions (FGDs) among Finnish schoolchildren aged 7-8, 10-11 and 13-14 years. The main theme during the FGDs was the management of diseases with medicines. Both inductive and deductive analyses were used to analyse the data [Patton M. Qualitative evaluation and research methods. 2nd ed. Newbury Park: Sage Publications; 1990]. Children had superficial knowledge of and a negative attitude towards medicine use. They used medicine related vocabulary uncertainly implying that they do not fully comprehend all the information that they have gained. Children realized that there may be risks when using medicines and this understanding tended to increase by age. The results of this study indicate a need to educate children about medicines. In addition to school-based medicine education, health care professionals should communicate directly with children about their medicines at an appropriate cognitive level in order to increase their understanding and skills concerning health issues.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Usefulness of the USP Medication Counselling Behavior Guidelines.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the perceived usefulness of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Medication Counselling Behavior Guidelines among Finnish community pharmacists. The Guidelines were systematically disseminated to pharmacists through a 4-year project (TIPPA 2000-2003). METHOD: A postal questionnaire was sent to a random sample (n = 734) of Finnish community pharmacists (response rate 51%). RESULTS: More than one quarter (27%) of the respondents was aware of the Guidelines. The Guidelines were made known to the respondents mostly via a book on patient counselling skills (41% of those knowing the Guidelines), continuing education (37%), and in-house training (28%). Over 60% of those who knew about the Guidelines regarded them as a good or very good instrument for learning the principles of patient counselling. The Guidelines were considered less useful as an instrument for the self-evaluation of performance in different settings. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that even though the USP Guidelines have been promoted strongly through basic and continuing education during the TIPPA Project, more than half of the respondents were not aware of the Guidelines. The Guidelines were considered more useful in learning the principles of patient counselling than learning self-evaluation of performance.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Implementation of a professional program in Finnish community pharmacies in 2000-2002.

The aim was to assess implementation of a national 4-year project to promote professional strategy in Finnish community pharmacies during the 2.5 years of program's action in 2000-2002. A survey of random sample of 734 community pharmacists in Finland was conducted in 2002 (response rate 51%, n = 376). The questionnaire included an implementation scale and two open-ended questions on patient counselling. Many of the actions were not optimally implemented 2.5 years after starting the project. Some individual actions may have been taken, but the systematic long-term development process has not yet been started in many pharmacies. Future challenges in implementation will be a better commitment of the pharmacy owners to the goals of the national professional strategy and a better access to Internet-based drug information sources while counselling patients.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Patient counselling profile in a Finnish pharmacy.

The present study assessed the patient satisfaction on Finnish community pharmacy services with a special focus on patient counselling. Two different study methods were performed in one Finnish community pharmacy to clarify the patient counselling profile. In autumn 1996, 200 of local citizens were interviewed and a questionnaire has been filled by the pharmacists after counselled episodes. The patient opinion of counselling showed that counselling by pharmacists is beneficial for their medication. Furthermore, pharmacists seem to be more active with the patients receiving prescription drugs. According to our results pharmacists should adjust more counselling to every patients needs. Thus, pharmaceutical information and support of self-care were found to be important areas in patient counselling.

Adult↗