(1060) Community-pharmacy Resident Led Diabetes Injection Technique Education and Disease State Optimization

Objectives: Diabetes mellitus is a widespread and prominent chronic disease that can significantly impact a patients' long-term health and quality of life. Successful management of the disease requires not only appropriate medication therapy but also relies heavily on patient understanding of disease state management and monitoring that is normally instilled through provider education. Recent literature suggests that patients are lacking essential knowledge due to reduced provider interaction as well as patient overload. As providers are allotted less time with individual patients, patient information retention after diagnosis may be suboptimal. Many patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus are prescribed injectable antihyperglycemic medications, and their condition management relies on proper injection technique and comprehensive knowledge of the disease state. The objective of this research is to evaluate the impact of a community pharmacy resident-driven injectable diabetes medication education in a retail pharmacy setting. We are looking to assess patients' baseline knowledge and their ability to retain information related to diabetes management, especially injection technique after educational intervention.

Methods: To conduct this research, the pharmacy resident, along with community pharmacy staff, will identify eligible patients during drug utilization reviews, prescription entries, or point-of-sale contact, particularly for those prescribed injectable agents. Eligible patients include those that are or above the age of 18, who have been diagnosed with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, and who are currently treated with an AACE/ADA guideline recommended injectable medication for a labeled indication. Consenting eligible patients will undergo the study intervention consisting of several components: a community pharmacy resident will collect baseline patient demographic information in person, establishing a foundation for personalized education. Using a short survey and demonstrative injectable products, the resident will assess patients' baseline knowledge in areas pertaining to current antihyperglycemic medication regimen, blood glucose and HgA1c goals, macro/microvascular risk assessment, injection technique, and proper glucometer setup/use. Based on pre-education survey responses, patients will receive targeted education, focusing in areas needing improvement, from the community pharmacy resident. Immediately after education, patients will undergo a post-education survey, mirroring the initial survey questions to assess immediate information retention. A follow-up telephonic appointment will be scheduled ten days after the initial education is provided to evaluate further knowledge retention. The community pharmacy resident will then document the cumulative results of the three surveys. This research project represents an inclusive and innovative approach to establishing diabetes management services in community pharmacies. By systematically assessing patients' baseline knowledge, providing targeted education, and evaluating knowledge retention, we aim to empower patients with the knowledge needed for successful long-term management. The results of this study will display insights into improving patient education in diabetes care and may prove the positive impact of community pharmacist led education in an outpatient setting. Our hope is that the outcome of this study will prove that there are benefits of implementing additional outpatient pharmacist-led education in diabetes. Positive results would help us determine if similar additional education practices could be implemented in surrounding pharmacy locations as a regular pharmacy service.

Results: N/A

Conclusions: N/A