Michelle Chui, associate professor and director of the Systems Approach to Medication Safety (SAMS)-Lab in the Social and Administrative Sciences Division of the School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison has received a grant from the University of Wisconsin’s Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) to study safety issues related to the use of Over-the-Counter (OTC) medications in the elderly who visit community pharmacies.

With over 300,000 marketed OTC products currently in use in the United States, concern has been raised regarding their appropriate use and whether the existing pharmacy environments support pharmacists to provide optimal OTC counseling.

The grant, amounting to $75,000, will be used by Chui to fund a pilot project aimed at exploring factors that act as barriers to proper use of OTC products by the elderly, those above 65 years of age. Chui’s research plan employs a holistic approach rather than focusing on a single player, such as a patient or pharmacist, in trying to understand the things that make it difficult for pharmacists to provide such services or for patients to receive them. Going forward, Chui explains, “The results of this research will be used to develop innovative systems-based approaches that will make interactions between patients and pharmacists easier in order to improve safe use of OTC medications.”