Services and dynamic activities of hospital pharmacy are affecting public health and welfare. Outpatient pharmacy is a section of hospital pharmacy department that is required to provide the following scope of services and activities to hospital customers: 1. Delivery of medication-related services to outpatients and health care providers working within hospital premises
Diabetes mellitus is approaching epidemic proportions in most countries and has captured the attention of physicians on local, national and global levels. The elderly population remains at a higher risk for diabetes mellitus [1], and the disease poses unique concerns for geriatricians, primary care physicians, nurses, dietitians and specialized pharmacists who provide care to the elderly. Glycemic control, geriatric related syndromes, and cardiovascular risk factors considerably affect the elderly patient's functional status and life expectancy [2]. Geriatric syndromes include polypharmacy, chronic pain, injurious falls, cognitive impairment, urinary incontinence, and depression. Higher rates of premature death; functional disability; and chronic illnesses, such as hypertension, cerebrovascular accidents, dementia and coronary artery disease, often affect elderly diabetic patients. Collaborative efforts are continually needed to allocate and maximize utilization of resources to help empower older adults with diabetes to overcome barriers to disease management. Healthcare providers are increasingly challenged by the complexity of problems that face old patients, and must therefore be prepared to assess and treat diabetes mellitus within the milieu of many geriatric related chronic illnesses. Healthcare providers must tailor individualized treatment methods, with the ultimate goal of not only achieving laboratory norms but also improving the quality of life for this vulnerable population. This article emphasizes the necessity of needed extra care to optimize diabetes control in old patients as a dynamic and a continuous task that needs coordination of healthcare systems and professionals at all levels of care.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.