Pharmacy students teach Univ. employees about healthier habits

The University is encouraging a better lifestyle for 65 employees through the Healthy Dawgs Wellness Program, an initiative set in place to educate employees about their prescription medications and to promote healthier habits.

The program, which is in its second year, targets employees in select departments and with the assistance of third year pharmacy students, teaches them how to take medications, helps them to understand their diseases and gives them tips on how to lower risk of disease.

Each year, the program is only available to a certain amount of people due to limited space, even though there is a large willingness to expand, said Lindsey Welch, a public service assistant for experience programs.

This year, the program is working with the Physical Plant and University Housing.

Welch said the program started because the College of Pharmacy saw a need for more wellness initiatives on campus for employees and realized more students needed more practical experience working with patients.

“It’s a win-win situation,” she said. “We had a need, we saw a need and we were able to fill that need.”

The pharmacy students work one-on-one with each employee-patient, meeting with them twice in the fall and twice in the spring to monitor the patient’s health and to ensure they continue living their lives healthily and with care.

“The pharmacy students are there to help patients understand their diseases,” Welch said. “The only way you can control your disease is to understand what’s going on in your body, and then you’re able to do something about it. It’s a lot of education and a lot of encouragement.”

Since the program was initiated, more than 90 percent of participants agreed or strongly agreed that their health knowledge was improved, they are more knowledgeable about their conditions and medications, the knowledge of their health values caused them to change their health behaviors and they are overall more confident in making healthy lifestyle choices, according to an evaluation form sent out by the program.

Welch said the pharmacy students have discovered certain medical findings and have communicated those results to the patients’ physicians.

“They’ve caught drug interactions, implications in medications, patients who are not on optimal drug therapy and people who have high blood pressure and high cholesterol,” she said. “It’s all about coordination of care and communication within the health world.”

As the wellness program continues, Welch said she expects an ultimately healthier and happier University.

“For employees, they’re able to have a venue in which they can ask questions [about their health] and have them answered at the convenience of being close,” she said. “For the pharmacy students, they are able to practice the skills they’re learning within school and apply them to real-world situations.”

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Pharmacy students teach Univ. employees about healthier habits