DUBLIN, Ohio, April 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- With more than 15
million people aged 12 or older using prescription drugs
non-medically annually, prevention education is key to reversing
the trend of misuse1. The Cardinal Health Foundation and
the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) recently recognized
pharmacists for their outstanding efforts in prescription
medication misuse prevention.
During the APhA 2015 Annual Meeting and Exposition in
San Diego, the Cardinal Health
Foundation and APhA awarded the fifth annual American Pharmacists
Association – Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP)
GenerationRx Awards, which recognize use of the GenerationRx
toolkit, a communications package including talking points,
presentation materials and tips to enable users to raise awareness
of prescription drug misuse in their communities.
The organizations also awarded the fourth annual APhA
GenerationRx Award of Excellence, an award recognizing one
pharmacist for his or her outstanding efforts in prescription
medication misuse prevention.
The APhA-ASP GenerationRx award is part of a national
competition among APhA-ASP chapters. This past year, student
pharmacists from 82 chapters conducted more than 800 GenerationRx
presentations and educated more than 134,000 children, teens,
college students and adults. More than 12.7 million people were
reached via public relations outreach.
The 2015 APhA-ASP GenerationRx national and regional awards were
presented during the APhA-ASP Opening General Session. The chapters
honored in this year's competition were:
National Award: East
Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College of
Pharmacy
National 1st Runner-Up Award: University of Florida College of Pharmacy
National 2nd Runner-Up Award: The University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy
Region 1 Award: MCPHS University - Boston
Region 2 Award: University of
Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy
Region 3 Award: The University of
Tennessee Health Science Center College of Pharmacy
Region 4 Award: Southern Illinois
University Edwardsville School of Pharmacy
Region 5 Award: Drake University
College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Region 6 Award: University of
Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Pharmacy
Region 7 Award: Idaho State
University College of Pharmacy
Region 8 Award: University of
California, San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and
Pharmaceutical Sciences
"We believe that pharmacists and student pharmacists can play an
important role in helping parents, educators, community leaders and
teens better understand the dangers of prescription drug misuse,"
said Betsy Walker, Cardinal Health
Director of Community Relations, "and we're pleased to work in
collaboration with APhA to recognize the work Dr. Painter and these
student chapters have done to help prevent prescription drug
misuse."
The 2015 recipient of the APhA GenerationRx Award of Excellence
is Nathan A. Painter, PharmD, CDE,
of La Jolla, California. Painter
was selected in recognition of his commitment to community
partnerships and interprofessional collaboration in providing
substance misuse education. He is an Associate Clinical Professor
at the University of California San
Diego (UCSD) Skaggs School of
Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, where he manages a
pharmacist-run clinic for patients with chronic diseases. Painter
serves as the faculty advisor for UCSD's APhA - Academy of Student
Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) GenerationRx activities and created a
prescription drug misuse elective course. He is an active member of
the San Diego County Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force and has
collaborated on an interprofessional team to evaluate the state's
Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.
"We are extremely excited to recognize Dr. Painter for his
commitment to educating student pharmacists on the dangers of
prescription drug misuse, and for serving as a leader in his local
community," said Elizabeth Cardello,
BPharm, APhA Director of Corporate Alliances.
The awards mark a continuation of the APhA and Cardinal Health
Foundation partnership to prevent the misuse of prescription
medications. The organizations work together to provide a
comprehensive education program to aid pharmacists and student
pharmacists in educating their communities about the dangers of
prescription drug misuse.
About the Cardinal Health Foundation
The Cardinal
Health Foundation supports local, national and international
programs that improve health care efficiency, effectiveness and
excellence and the overall wellness of the communities where
Cardinal Health's (NYSE:CAH) 30,000 employees live and work. The
Cardinal Health Foundation also offers grants to encourage
community service among its employees and works through
international agencies to donate much-needed medical supplies and
funding to those who need them in times of disaster. To learn more,
visit www.CardinalHealth.com/community.
About the American Pharmacists Association
The
American Pharmacists Association (APhA), founded in 1852 as the
American Pharmaceutical Association, is a 501 (c)(6) organization,
representing more than 62,000 practicing pharmacists,
pharmaceutical scientists, student pharmacists, pharmacy
technicians and others interested in advancing the profession.
APhA, dedicated to helping all pharmacists improve medication use
and advance patient care, is the first-established and largest
association of pharmacists in the United States. To learn more,
visit www.pharmacist.com.
About APhA-ASP
The American Pharmacists Association –
Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) is the student pharmacist
section of APhA, representing student pharmacists at every school
and college of pharmacy in the United
States and Puerto Rico. It
is the largest student pharmacy organization nationwide. The
mission of APhA-ASP is to be the collective voice of student
pharmacists, to provide opportunities for professional growth, to
improve patient care, and to envision and advance the future of
pharmacy. To learn more, visit www.pharmacist.com/apha-asp.
1 "Prescription Drug Misuse and Abuse," Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 9/29/2014.
http://www.samhsa.gov/prescription-drug-misuse-abuse.
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SOURCE Cardinal Health Foundation