The review articles about the investigation of medication problem in community:The important concepts and application

Abstract

Introduction: There have been medication problems in communities in Thailand for a long time. Continuously, problem-solving activities have been implemented. However, there is too little success now. The objectives of this article were review articles about the investigation of medication problemsin community in topic of methods and results. It was expected that this could assist readers get more understanding about the methodology and could apply it to their work. Methods: Use WHO guideline, Thai guideline and previous studies. Results: The World Health Organization proposed the process to investigate medicines use in communities which consisted of 7 steps as follows: (1) describe drug use and identify problems (2) prioritize problems (3) analyze problems and identify solutions (4) select and develop intervention (5) pretest intervention (6) implement intervention and (7) monitor and evaluate intervention. For Thai guideline, the processes are similar. However, it was added the preparation phase of researchers and emphasized the importance of economic and social factors in the context of community in addition to health factors. It also proposed the 7 tools that help working in community easier. The research examples illustrated the medication problemsin community and the method to solve problems in real situation. It was found that the researches which success in solving medication problemsin community covered all processes suggested by the guideline. The investigation of medication problemsis just a starting point of the problem-solving process. Conclusion: The operations which work systematic and systematically, participated from stakeholders, and consider the context of community could bring to the successful, help working people to understand their community and work happily.