Thirty to fifty percent of those who use medicines do not use them as directed. This causes more doctor visits, hospital stays, lost wages, and changed prescriptions and costs Americans $76.6 billion each year. Medication errors can be particularly pronounced when people lack information, have limited reading skills, and have language or cultural barriers. With its expert knowledge about safe medicine use, FDA created a program called "Women's Health: Take Time To Care" (TTTC) to reach millions of women of many cultures where they live and work and educate them about using medicines wisely.
Women across the country gave TTTC information a 99.1% approval rating. In addition to their overwhelming support, they also commented that they took action by listing the medicines and using it when speaking with their health care provider.
The campaign was co-sponsored by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and was also supported by more than 80 national grassroots organizations and corporations. Orchestrating these partnerships enabled the campaign to far exceed its previous achievements by: · Making the "My Medicines" brochure available on OWH's Web site in 13 different languages, such as Spanish, Russian, Hmong and Vietnamese · Distributing materials at conferences, universities, community health centers and through company employee assistance programs · Targeting women with special needs, including veterans, the blind and those with mental illness
Partnerships like TTTC amplify FDA's public health message to diverse audiences by providing access, professional expertise, outreach workers, and independent program evaluation.
Learning Objectives: 1. Identify 3 consumer and private sector needs that can be translated into partnership opportunities where participating organizations conduct work using their own resources. 2. Teach attendees probing questions to solicit guidance from community organizations. 3. Articulate 5 reasons for testing educational materials in community settings as well as in a controlled focused group setting before conducting a multi-cultural campaign. 4. Develop an educational outreach strategy that delivers information to consumers where they live and work
Keywords: Medicine, Community Collaboration
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Food and Drug Administration//National Association of Chain Drug Stores//80 organizations -- please see http://www.fda.gov/womens/taketimetocare/support.html
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.