Stage 1: Engage

The first stage focuses on identifying whether the person wants to have a conversation about their medicines. It forms the initial part of the information gathering stage of the consultation and is critical to building rapport. This could look something like this:

Pharmacist checks name/address/ID, then says: “May I ask – is this medicine for you?” 

Follows up with (as relevant): “Have you had this medicine before?”

Additional questions at this stage include: “What would be helpful to know about this medicine today?”

May follow up with: "Would you like a phone call at another time?”

Stage 2: Explore

When a patient has agreed to receive information about a medicine but has not asked any questions, offer them the opportunity to do so:

• “Before I share the information with you, can I check whether there is anything you would like to ask me about the medicine.”

Or:

• “I’ve got some information here about using/taking this medicine – in order to make sure I give you the information that’s most useful to you, please tell me what you already know about this medicine.” (What has the prescriber told you? What did you discuss with the doctor?)

This stage utilises a pharmacist’s existing communication skills, particularly around listening, to understand the patient’s perspective on the new medicine they have been prescribed.

Skills include using mirroring, paraphrasing, non-verbal communication, summarising and teach-back as part of the conversation.

Additional questions at this stage include:

• “What do you know/have you been told about your condition/medicine?”
• “What, if anything, worries you about this medicine?” 

Some people believe that this approach may make a patient concerned that there is something to worry about – so it can be helpful to preface this by saying that some people do have concerns and it is better to address them early in a consultation.

It is important to understand what people expect from their medicines so that you can tailor your advice accordingly. Use questions such as:

• “How do you think this medicine can help you?” 

Or:

• “What would you like this medicine to do?” 

This helps you to clarify what people know about what the medicine can and cannot do.

• “What are you hoping this medicine will do for you?” 

This focuses on patient-orientated outcomes (e.g. walk the dog without becoming breathless) rather than clinician-orientated outcomes (e.g. improving peak flow).