Incorporating Hypertensive Patient Education on Salt Intake Into an Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience

• Published in: American journal of pharmaceutical education Vol. 77; no. 9; p. 199
• Main Authors: Garza, Kimberly B., Westrick, Salisa C., Teeter, Benjamin S., Stevenson, T. Lynn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 12.11.2013; American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy; Elsevier Limited; American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education
• Subjects: Accreditation; Adult; Attitudes; Behavior; Care and treatment; Diet; dietary behaviors; Drug stores; Education, Pharmacy - methods; Educational Measurement; Experiential learning; Female; Food; Food Labeling; Health education; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Hypertension; Hypertension - therapy; Instructional Design and Assessment; knowledge; Learning Activities; Male; Methods; Participation; Patient education; Patient Education as Topic - methods; Pharmaceutical Education; Pharmacists; Pharmacists - organization & administration; Pharmacy; Practice; Questionnaires; Reading Materials; salt; Service learning; Sodium; Sodium Chloride, Dietary - administration & dosage; Students; Students, Pharmacy; Study and teaching; Surveys and Questionnaires; United States; sodium; salt; dietary behaviors; patient education; knowledge
• ISSN: 0002-9459; 1553-6467
• DOI: 10.5688/ajpe779199

Objective. To evaluate the impact of the Salt Education Program for hypertensive adults on student pharmacists' knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes regarding sodium consumption. Design. As part of the introductory pharmacy practice experience program in community pharmacies, student pharmacists assessed patients' sodium intake knowledge and behaviors, taught them how to read nutrition labels, and obtained information about their hypertensive conditions. Students completed pre-and post-intervention questionnaires in April and August 2012, respectively. Assessment. One hundred thirty student pharmacists (70% female, 78% white) completed pre- and post-intervention questionnaires. Students demonstrated significant improvements in knowledge scores (p<0.001) and perceived benefit of a low-salt diet (p=0.004). Further, there were significant improvements in the self-reported frequency of looking at sodium content of foods when shopping (p<0.001) and purchasing low-salt foods (p=0.004). Conclusion. Changes in students' knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes after participating in the Salt Education program suggested that the program was effective in improving student knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes.