Importance of heat therapy in the treatment of pain in the daily clinical practice.

Background: Musculoskeletal (MSK) pain includes a wide variety of causes and conditions. Despite the heterogeneity of MSK pain, it is possible to identify some common clinical features and treatments. Heat therapy (HT) is one of the most common and could be a suitable non-pharmacological approach.

European community pharmacists practice in tackling influenza.

Background: In many European countries, flu vaccination coverage rates are below the 75% target. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many pharmacists around Europe were involved as vaccine administrators and demonstrated positive results in improving vaccine uptake. This paper explores the challenges, accomplishments, and best practices of various European pharmacists' associations in administering vaccines and positively contributing to public health.

Role of Portuguese community pharmacy and pharmacists in self-care.

Portugal recognizes the importance of self-care in its policies and has been actively engaging in health literacy and citizen empowerment. The current National Health Plan for the period 2021-2030 clearly mentions the need to "take greater advantage of the network of community pharmacies throughout the national territory, in favour of the health of the community, from the protection and promotion of health, through health literacy, to the prevention and early detection of disease, and the aggravation of chronic disease, among others". There is recognition of the role of pharmacists and community pharmacies.

Remote consultations in primary care across low-, middle- and high-income countries: Implications for policy and care delivery.

The COVID-19 pandemic mandated a substantial switch in primary health care delivery from an in-person to a mainly remote telephone or video service. As the COVID-19 pandemic approaches its third year, limited progress appears to have been made in terms of policy development around consultation methods for the post-acute phase of the pandemic. In September 2020, the International Primary Care Respiratory Group convened a global panel of primary care clinicians - including family physicians, paediatricians, pharmacists, academics and patients - to consider the policy and health management implications of the move to remote consultations in the primary care setting.

Management of allergic rhinitis symptoms in the pharmacy Pocket guide 2022.

Background: Allergic rhinitis (AR) management requires a coordinated effort from healthcare providers and patients. Pharmacists are key members of these integrated care pathways resolving medication-related problems, optimizing regimens, improving adherence and recommending therapies while establishing liaisons between patients and physicians.

Methods: Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) first published a reference document on the pharmacist's role in allergic rhinitis management in 2004.

Using an online nominal group technique to determine key implementation factors for COVID-19 vaccination programmes in community pharmacies.

Background One vital strategy to fight the COVID-19 pandemic is the rapid roll-out of vaccination programmes. In a number of countries pharmacists are joining the vaccination programme workforce, including plans to involve community pharmacies. Objectives (1) to determine key implementation factors for rapid roll-out of COVID-19 vaccination programmes in European community pharmacies and (2) to trial an online nominal group technique to generate ideas and reach consensus on the first aim.

A Role for Superficial Heat Therapy in the Management of Non-Specific, Mild-to-Moderate Low Back Pain in Current Clinical Practice: A Narrative Review.

Low back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of disability. It significantly impacts the patient's quality of life, limits their daily living activities, and reduces their work productivity. To reduce the burden of LBP, several pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment options are available.

ARIA digital anamorphosis: Digital transformation of health and care in airway diseases from research to practice.

Digital anamorphosis is used to define a distorted image of health and care that may be viewed correctly using digital tools and strategies. MASK digital anamorphosis represents the process used by MASK to develop the digital transformation of health and care in rhinitis. It strengthens the ARIA change management strategy in the prevention and management of airway disease.

Awareness campaigns of atrial fibrillation as an opportunity for early detection by pharmacists: an international cross-sectional study.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) accounts for up to one third of strokes, one of the lead mortality causes worldwide. The European Society of Cardiology guidelines recommend opportunistic screening as a means to increase the odds of early detection and institution of appropriate treatment according to risk factors identified. However, in most countries there are various barriers to effective uptake of screening, including low awareness.

Next-generation ARIA care pathways for rhinitis and asthma: a model for multimorbid chronic diseases.

Background: In all societies, the burden and cost of allergic and chronic respiratory diseases are increasing rapidly. Most economies are struggling to deliver modern health care effectively. There is a need to support the transformation of the health care system into integrated care with organizational health literacy.

Measurement of arterial stiffness and vascular aging in community pharmacies-The ASINPHAR@2action project.

The ASINPHAR@2action project aims at raising awareness to arterial stiffness (AS) and early vascular aging (EVA) through a community pharmacy-based intervention. This preliminary analysis is focused on the analysis of the proportion of participants with increased AS and the identification of its main determinants. We performed an observational cross-sectional study of participants enrolled in 11 community pharmacies in Portugal, between April and November 2017.

ARIA pharmacy 2018 "Allergic rhinitis care pathways for community pharmacy": AIRWAYS ICPs initiative (European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing, DG CONNECT and DG Santé) POLLAR (Impact of Air POLLution on Asthma and Rhinitis) GARD Demonstration project.

Pharmacists are trusted health care professionals. Many patients use over-the-counter (OTC) medications and are seen by pharmacists who are the initial point of contact for allergic rhinitis management in most countries. The role of pharmacists in integrated care pathways (ICPs) for allergic diseases is important.

Structured Multi-Stakeholder Workshops to Advance a Global Transformative Roadmap for Pharmaceutical Workforce.

Unlabelled: In November 2016, the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) endeavored to create an environment to foster a shared vision to lead a transformative pharmaceutical workforce roadmap. Three milestone documents were developed and presented at the Global Conference on Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Education. Workshops with the key themes and connecting Pharmaceutical Workforce Development Goals (PWDG) were conducted and analyzed.

Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) Phase 4 (2018): Change management in allergic rhinitis and asthma multimorbidity using mobile technology.

Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) has evolved from a guideline by using the best approach to integrated care pathways using mobile technology in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma multimorbidity. The proposed next phase of ARIA is change management, with the aim of providing an active and healthy life to patients with rhinitis and to those with asthma multimorbidity across the lifecycle irrespective of their sex or socioeconomic status to reduce health and social inequities incurred by the disease. ARIA has followed the 8-step model of Kotter to assess and implement the effect of rhinitis on asthma multimorbidity and to propose multimorbid guidelines.

The social value of pharmaceutical interventions, the Portuguese contribution to sustainable development.

This commentary focuses on a description of solidarity initiatives developed by pharmacists in different practice areas. These are varied initiatives which contribute to improve the life of human beings in a wide range of formats with one common vector, the pharmacist's involvement. Each of the initiatives described is related to the sustainable development goal it contributes to, whilst also referring to its link to international health policy documents, mostly issued by FIP.

Social and economic value of Portuguese community pharmacies in health care.

Background: Community pharmacies are major contributors to health care systems across the world. Several studies have been conducted to evaluate community pharmacies services in health care. The purpose of this study was to estimate the social and economic benefits of current and potential future community pharmacies services provided by pharmacists in health care in Portugal.

Drug related problems identified by European community pharmacists in patients discharged from hospital.

Introduction: Drug related problems (DRPs) are perceived to occur frequently when patients are discharged from the hospital. Community pharmacists' interventions to detect, prevent and solve DRPs in this population are scarcely studied.

Objective: To examine the nature and frequency of DRPs in community pharmacies among patients discharged from hospitals in several countries, and to examine several variables related to these drug related problems.