Busan is good

Service Satisfaction Reaches 96% as Busan Holds 2025 Performance Report on the “Love Helping Hands” Outreach Program for Vulnerable Groups

내용

Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it will hold the “2025 Performance Report Meeting for the Love Helping Hands Outreach Program for Vulnerable Groups” at 7:00 p.m. today (the 17th) at the main auditorium of the Busan Pharmaceutical Association Hall in Choryang-dong, Dong-gu.

The “Love Helping Hands Outreach Program for Vulnerable Groups” is an initiative in which volunteer pharmacists (honorary medication safety instructors) provide services to health-vulnerable groups, including elderly individuals living alone who take multiple medications*, through home visits and telephone consultations. Services include guidance on proper medication use, counseling to prevent medication misuse and abuse, health consultations, and companionship support.

• ●Taking multiple medications: the practice of taking several medications simultaneously.

Busan Metropolitan City is implementing this program in cooperation with the Busan Pharmaceutical Association. Pharmacists work in teams of two to deliver customized, field-oriented consultations.

This performance report meeting was organized to recognize the dedication of program participants, share this year’s outcomes, and explore directions for future development.

Approximately 50 people will attend the meeting, including honorary medication safety instructors (pharmacists participating in the program), award recipients, representatives of the pharmaceutical association, and officials from Busan Metropolitan City. The program includes ▲an awards ceremony for contributions to creating a safe medication-use environment (five recipients), ▲a report on 2025 performance (outcomes), ▲Q&A and suggestions, and ▲a special lecture (talk concert).

As part of this year’s program, honorary medication safety instructors conducted a total of 323 consultations (210 home visits and 113 phone consultations) for 80 elderly individuals living alone who take multiple medications.

According to the satisfaction survey of participants (79 respondents, 99% participation rate), ▲overall satisfaction with pharmacist home-visit services was 96%, ▲perceived helpfulness of medication counseling was 96%, ▲level of understanding of explanations (“well understood”) was 82%, and ▲intention to reuse the home-visit service was confirmed at 93%.

An evaluation of the effects before and after medication counseling (72 individuals analyzed) showed improvements across all indicators: ▲awareness of medications taken increased from 66.7% to 92.8%, ▲medication adherence improved from 73.3% to 85.0%, and ▲general knowledge of medication use rose from 76.9% to 91.8%. In addition, the average correct response rate across 20 questions increased by 16.9 percentage points, from 73.4% to 90.3%, confirming the educational effectiveness of home-visit medication counseling.

Furthermore, for survey items related to awareness of proper disposal of unused or expired medications, 98% of respondents answered that the service “helped them understand how to dispose of medications properly,” indicating that the home-visit service contributed to reducing the risks of improper storage and misuse of unused medications in households.

Jo Gyu-yul, Director General of the Citizens’ Health Bureau of Busan Metropolitan City, said, “I would like to express my deep gratitude to the honorary pharmacist instructors who generously contributed their talents,” adding, “Busan Metropolitan City will continue to promote field-oriented policies to prevent medication misuse and abuse and to enhance the health of vulnerable populations.”