Empowering Rational Drug Use in Urban Area: District-level

Abstract

Background: According to the Ministry of Public Health Policy, to achieve a rational drug use (RDU) country with a provincial-level indicator and at least one rational drug use district, Maung Surin district has completed the criteria in some issues. Therefore, a participatory network of multi-disciplinary teams and the public community was set up to develop a service system to be an RDU district. The outcomes of such services were evaluated.
Objective: to study outcomes of empowering rational drug use and develop a service system to be an RDU district in urban area.
Methods: A participatory action research including the community and multi-disciplinary team was conducted from July 2022 to June 2023. This study comprised 4 phases. The first phase is situation analysis by comparing key performance indicators with standard criteria. The second phase is developing the RDU district movement using the “PLEASE” policy, nine aspects to step forward together, and proactive medication safety use in the community. The third phase is the implementation of RDU activity in hospitals and communities. The fourth phase is outcome evaluation presented by descriptive statistics .
Results: After implementation, Maung Surin district was approved as an RDU district. Surin Hospital was the third level of RDU hospital with the improvement of these criteria: no statin use in pregnant women, inhaled corticosteroid use in chronic asthma (over 80%, p<0.001). All healthcare centers were the third level of RDU healthcare center, and a new RDU community was established. A before and after RDU district development in Maung Surin found that 1) Surin In the initial phase, Surin Hospital did not meet two RDU hospital criteria including incomplete setting goals and policy implementation. Three sub-district health centers did not achieve the RDU sub-district criteria and none of the community presented the RDU.
Conclusion: Mueang Surin is Rational drug use (RDU) district , which consists of Surin Hospital, RDU level 3 ,Primary care unit(PCU) , all Level 3 and 2 RDU community. Implementation of all strategies including PLEASE policy, “nine aspects to step forward together” and proactive medication safety use in the community is the effective management to empower the RDU community.