CAG Position Statement - Accessible Prescription Medication Information
Independently identifying prescription medications and accessing critical information has been a long-standing challenge for Canadians who are blind, Deafblind, or partially sighted, potentially leading to serious health and safety concerns. The technology now exists by which prescription medication information can be recorded on to a label which then can be read aloud by either a freely available, easy to use, stand-alone device or by newer smartphones. Read the full Position Statement for further information and CAG recommendations.
Position Statement on Accessible Prescription Medication Information (APMI)
Revised – April 19, 2022
About the Consumer Access Group
The Consumer Access Group (CAG) is a coalition of blindness related not-for-profit organizations. Each partner contributes their expertise to developing position statements on blindness related concerns. These statements enable organizations and individuals to advocate with a common voice on blindness-related issues, increasing the capacity of each to more effectively promote social inclusion for Canadians who are blind, Deafblind, and partially sighted.
Issue
Independently identifying prescription medication has been a long-standing challenge for Canadians who are blind, Deafblind, or partially sighted. Compounding this challenge is the need to access and understand critical prescription medication information. This information is usually provided in a small print format on a label affixed to the prescription bottle and is often accompanied by additional information on pieces of detached paper. Prescription medication information provided only in print form can present insurmountable challenges for Canadians who are blind, Deafblind, or partially sighted, which can lead to serious health and safety concerns.
Background
Accessing the critical and essential medication information on the print label of a prescription is not possible for many people who are blind, Deafblind, or partially sighted.
Pharmacists are required to verbally provide an overview of the prescription medication, including dosage instructions, side effects, and warnings when dispensing the medication. While this is helpful for most people, consumers who are blind, Deafblind, or partially sighted struggle to independently identify the medication and its related information once their leave the pharmacy. Compounding this challenge is the fact that medications often demand special instructions (i.e., take with food, do not take with grapefruit juice, consume on a full stomach, etc.). There are also prescription refill numbers, medication expiry dates, side effects, warnings, and other details listed on the print label. The challenge of accessing this critical information increases exponentially when multiple prescription medications are required to safely manage a person's health when they are blind, Deafblind, or partially sighted.
Pharmacists often recommend to a person who is blind, Deafblind, or partially sighted to acquire their prescription medications in customized blister packs. However, blister packs are not practical when it comes to a host of medications — such as "as needed" medications, topical ointments and creams, consumable liquid medications, inhalers, etc. — nor do they provide any method of advising the consumer what the side effects, warnings, or other details may be with these medications.
Not all individuals who are blind, Deafblind, or partially sighted access information the same way, and prescription medication information must be made available for the individual's needs — in an accessible format they can understand and independently access.
Along with the usual alternate format choices — Braille, large-print, electronic text or audio — the technology now exists by which prescription medication information can be recorded onto a label specifically outfitted with a Radio-Frequency ID (RFID) tag, which then can be read aloud by either a freely available, easy to use, stand-alone device, or by newer smartphones, therefore enabling most persons who are blind, Deafblind, or partially sighted to independently access their prescription medication information. This technology requires the pharmacies to acquire the appropriate equipment to record the information onto the RFID tags, but it is not an arduous process.
The right for persons with disabilities to access information is set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which the Canadian government (with the support of all provinces and territories) ratified in March 2010. Article 25 – Health, section D of the CRPD states, "Require health professionals to provide care of the same quality to persons with disabilities as to others, including based on free and informed consent by, inter alia, raising awareness of the human rights, dignity, autonomy, and needs of persons with disabilities through training and the promulgation of ethical standards for public and private healthcare (Footnote 1).
This position statement offers a series of agreed upon recommendations aimed at providing accessible prescription medication information (APMI), enabling Canadians who are blind, Deafblind, or partially sighted to independently, confidently, and safely manage their prescription medications.
Recommendations
- APMI must be provided to those consumers who self-identify as preferring the information in an accessible format. It is the pharmacists' responsibility to capture and honour the consumer's self-identification for this service.
- APMI must be available in a format that meets the consumer's needs, whether it is large print, minimum 14-point font; recorded verbal instructions; braille; or an RFID label.
- APMI in recorded verbal instructions can be created when the prescription is picked up. If requested, the pharmacist must allow the verbal instructions to be recorded by the consumer or consumer's representative. It is the consumer or consumer representative's responsibility to provide and operate the recording device.
- Multiple medications are to be dispensed in tactilely distinguishable containers. Container distinguishing features may include size, shape, or additional distinguishing markings affixed to the container.
- Prescription medications requiring APMI need to be prepared and dispensed in a timeframe reasonably equivalent to that of a prescription of the same type where APMI is not required (a longer timeframe may be required for braille APMI).
- APMI must be affixed to the medication container that contains the actual medication (wherever possible) and not the medication's outer packaging.
- Any APMI in a format not attached to the container must include a description of how to tactilely identify the container.
- APMI should be made available in both of Canada's official languages.
- APMI must contain, at minimum
- Patient's name
- Name and strength of medication
- Dosage instructions
- Prescribing doctor's name
- Refills remaining
- Dispensing date
- Prescription number
- Dispensing pharmacy name and telephone number
- Prescription refill number
- Medication expiry date
- Potential side effects and warnings
- Devices that support the delivery of APMI in an audible format must offer a volume control and provide an earphone jack for privacy.