Understanding medication-related needs of low-literacy patients.

An important thrust in preparing pharmacy students to provide pharmaceutical care is acquiring sensitivity to the unique medication-related needs of at-risk patient populations. Low literacy, which affects 21% to 23% of the American population, defines one such population. In collaboration with the Lafayette Adult Reading Academy (LARA), the authors developed an evolving project to increase pharmacy studies' understanding of the medication-related needs and perspectives of low-literacy patients. This was accomplished through a relation-building, three-step oral interview process. The interviewers asked open-ended questions to assess each patient's medication use habits and perspectives. The interview sensitized the pharmacy students to the needs of low-literacy patients for pharmaceutical care. The principal finding was that a caring relationship between pharmacists and patients is prerequisite to patients' openness to share and receive advice about problems and misconceptions associated with their medication use experiences.