Study on the Status of Proper Medicine Use and Information Provision in the Remote Islands of Nagasaki Prefecture

Objectives: First steps to promote the proper use of medicines in remote islands and rural areas are as follows: (1) recognition of the profession of “pharmacist” from secondary-remote-island residents who do not have a pharmacy or drugstore or the opportunity for pharmacist contact and (2) an understanding by remote-island residents of the advantages of having a “family pharmacist.” Methods: Repeated “medicine information and consultation sessions” for secondary-remote-island residents of Japan’s Nagasaki Prefecture were held. Residents were then surveyed for changes in awareness of or demand for pharmacists and the nature of such changes. Results: Before the information sessions, 29.7% of residents did not recognize the profession of pharmacy, but the extent of their recognition increased after information sessions were concluded. They were asked “Who explains medicines in a way that is easy to understand ?”; more than half responded “doctors” before the information session, but after information sessions were concluded, those who said “pharmacists” increased. Conclusion: Conducting “medicine information and consultation sessions” for residents of secondary-remote islands and rural areas enabled them to understand the profession of pharmacy. The initiatives in the present study are first steps toward promoting proper use of medicines by residents of remote islands and rural areas who use “family pharmacies/pharmacists.”