Implementation of some aspects of geriatric pharmacy in students' research

Students’ research activity in geriatric pharmacy contributes to the development of this scientific and practical field of pharmacy, improving pharmaceutical care for geriatric patients, and forming ethical relations with the older generation among future specialists. We analyzed consumer preferences of 70 people aged 60 years and older in order to improve pharmaceutical care for this population. We found that most pharmacy visitors use the advice of doctors (61.4%) and pharmaceutical workers (38.6%), while only 27.1% prefer the effectiveness of drugs, and 52.9% prefer cheap drugs. The majority of pharmacy visitors (65.7%) experienced lack of attention, respect, kindness, and empathy, i.e., the psychological qualities of a pharmaceutical worker, whereas only 34.3% required more qualified advice. This determines the relevance of the appropriate psychological and ethical training of future pharmacists at university. The most popular drugs are cardiovascular and gastrointestinal agents; the preferred dosage forms are tablets and ointments (gels, pastes). Our results can help to optimize drug supply of geriatric patients in this pharmacy. Elderly pharmacy visitors answered that they did not have enough comfortable furniture and drinking water in the pharmacy. More than half of respondents consider it unnecessary to sell medicines in grocery stores (55.7%) and their delivery to clients (64.3%), but agree with the need for informational and educational work of the pharmacist (57.4%).