The UCSF School of Pharmacy has received a $3.7 million grant from the Amgen Foundation to fund an innovative program that will help underserved elderly Californians learn about and select from Medicare prescription drug plans. There currently are more than 70 of these drug plans in the state, most of which are Medicare Part D plans.
Called Partners in D, the three-and a-half year program will create an educational system and collaborative outreach network for pharmacy school students and faculty members, and community pharmacists. Under the grant, UCSF will work with the six other schools of pharmacy in California to be involved in the Partners in D program.
Partners in D will train student pharmacists who will, in turn, educate other health care professional students about Medicare Part D and move out and into the community to provide one-on-one assistance to Medicare-eligible seniors in community pharmacies and in community meetings. Efforts will focus particularly on seniors from underserved communities, with low incomes, and those who speak and read little or no English. The program will leverage the talents of student pharmacists with diverse backgrounds and language skills.
"Meeting the health care needs of older adults, particularly the underserved, is one of the most challenging health policy issues we face," said Helene Levens Lipton, PhD, professor in the UCSF Department of Clinical Pharmacy and co-principal investigator of the grant. "This program is all about partnerships and we are pleased to start off the program by announcing our partnership with Amgen Foundation."
Specifically, the Partners in D program will:
Leverage the core strengths of a diverse student population from the California schools of pharmacy to meet the healthcare needs of a multi-cultural state.
Develop new patient education programs, centered on Medicare Part D, in community pharmacy settings that leverage the front-l
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Contact: Wallace Ravven
wravven@pubaff.ucsf.edu
415-476-2557
University of California - San Francisco
8-Dec-2006