Drug Topics - December 10, 2007 - (Page 14)

14 DRUG TOPICS DECEMBER 10, 2007 www.drugtopics.com Community Practice Pharmacy professor bridges the Alzheimer’s divide Reid Paul orking with Alzheimer’s disease patients may not be easy, but colleagues of Robert Cluxton, Pharm.D., insist that he makes it look as though it is. “There are some really good academic pharmacists and some really good clinical pharmacists,” explained Ann McCracken, Ph.D., director of evaluation at the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. “He can do both. He bridges both sides with the human skills to work with staff, patients, and families, but also has the intelligence to be an academic researcher.” That ability and his strong performance in Alzheimer’s care was why Cluxton was chosen to receive Eisai’s hhc (human health care) Pharmacist Recognition Award. This is the sixth year that Eisai, maker of Aricept (donepezil), has offered this award program, which drew more than 300 entries this year. Out of these entries, three pharmacists were selected, repreRobert Cluxton is one of three pharsenting the hospital, long-term care, and commacists who won munity pharmacy settings, respectively. CluxEisai’s hhc award ton represents the community pharmacy this year. setting. The other winners are Iowa hospital pharmacist Anne Salamon, R.Ph., and Connecticut consultant pharmacist Peggy Memoli, Pharm.D., for long-term care. (For more on the awards program, see “Three pharmacists nab award for their strong Alzheimer’s care,” Drug Topics, Nov. 5.) According to Cluxton, it takes patience, cooperation, and the ability to listen—traits that have served him well for more than 30 years as professor of pharmacy practice and family medicine at the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy at the University of Cincinnati. Cluxton quickly recognized the value of cooperation when he began working at Cincinnati’s Alois Alzheimer Center. He, along with McCracken and Greg Warshaw, M.D., a professor of geriatric medicine, brought interdisciplinary groups of nurses, doctors, pharmacists, other specialists, and students to the facility to work together at the nation’s first center to specialize in the care of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. These interdisciplinary groups would meet and discuss patients at the bedside. “At Alois, we were thinking on the edge,” he explained. “We were not satisfied with meeting goals, but exceeding the goals.” W Meeting those goals also meant spending quality time with patients, not “treating the chart,” Cluxton told Drug Topics. That hands-on approach also led him to new opportunities to spread the word on the importance of taking an interdisciplinary approach. Cluxton and Warshaw developed a continuing education curriculum for doctors, and over the years he has participated in more than 400 in-office sessions as well as countless community education programs. In 2006, Cluxton also agreed to help at Maple Knoll Village, a resident facility that was looking to improve its dementia care. In a little more than a year, Cluxton has helped institute important changes, bringing Alois’ cooperative approach to Maple Knoll. “The facility had a problem with unmotivated staff,” he recalled. “After a little more than a year, the number of medications is down and we had no citations, which is almost unheard of. The patients are better off with more focused outcomes.” Although it is still early, Cluxton is optimistic that data gathered from the facility will show marked improvements for the patients as well. According to Cluxton, the key to success at both Alois and Maple Knoll has been the cooperative approach of bringing together nurses, pharmacists, doctors, family, and other staff to understand patients’ issues. In many cases, patients are on too many drugs that do little for them and cause unnecessary side effects. Medication for Alzheimer’s patients should either improve the quality of life or improve their functional status, but too often physicians overprescribe or offer medications to handle symptoms with little sense of the patients’ true needs. “Less is more with Alzheimer’s patients,” he explained. Cluxton also excels at bringing a special personal touch to his work. “He can connect with that patient as well as with that student,” McCracken observed. “Bob helped both patients and students.” In addition to his educational programs for students and physicians, Cluxton has also conducted community outreach programs for Alzheimer patients’ families and caregivers. “It is incredible how poorly informed people are about the available resources,” he lamented. Perhaps, with the hundreds of students and physicians that have benefited from his tutelage, that will begin to change. DT Photo: Reid Paul http://www.drugtopics.com

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Drug Topics - December 10, 2007 Latebreakers Latebreakers in Depth Letters Health-System Edition - Cover Story Clinical Practice Professional Practice Special Report Technology Community Practice Unraveling Medicare 150 Years of American Pharmacy Rx Care In the Pipeline Cover Story: Fair or foul? Self-Care Chains and Business Government and Law Continuing Education: Natural Medicines for Bone Health New Products Advertisers Index Classified Viewpoint

Drug Topics - December 10, 2007

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