Communicating Clear Messages
The impact of pharmaceutical representatives and the power of this approach has led to the concept of academic detailing to provide clear messages. A study by Thaver and Harpham described the work of 25 private practitioners in area around Karachi. The work was based on assessment of prescribing practices, and for each practitioner included 30 prescriptions for acute respiratory infections (ARIs) or diarrhea in children under 12 years of age. A total of 736 prescriptions were analysed and it was found that an average of four drugs were either prescribed or dispensed for each consultation. An antibiotic was prescribed in 66% of prescriptions, and 14% of prescriptions were for an injection. Antibiotics were requested for 81% of diarrhea cases and 62% of ARI cases. Of the 177 prescriptions for diarrhea, only 29% were for oral rehydration solution. The researchers went on to convert this information into clear messages for academic dealing back to the doctors. The researchers went on to implement the program and assessed the benefits. This was a good piece of work based on developing messages that are supported by evidence.
Read more about this topic: Evidence-based Pharmacy In Developing Countries
Famous quotes containing the words clear and/or messages:
“If we are ready to tolerate everything as understood, there is nothing left to explain; while if we sourly refuse to take anything, even tentatively, as clear, no explanation can be given. What intrigues us as a problem, and what will satisfy us as a solution, will depend upon the line we draw between what is already clear and what needs to be clarified.”
—Nelson Goodman (b. 1906)
“The first of the undecoded messages read: “Popeye sits in thunder,
Unthought of. From that shoebox of an apartment,
From livid curtain’s hue, a tangram emerges: a country.””
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)