Julie Prescott

A significant number of adults in the UK struggle to cope with context-specific demands on their literacy: medicines pose specific challenges. People with long-term conditions may have been taking medicines since childhood: it is important through adolescence to building dependence, leading to a transfer of responsibility from the parent/carer to the young person. Building knowledge of basic information about medicines is part of that empowerment process. The objective of this abstract, as part of a wider study of the links between identity, arthritis and medicines for young people, is to explore young people’s proficiency in spelling the names of medicines used to treat juvenile arthritis.

Focal points: to explore community pharmacists’ engagement and confidence in responding to young people's health concerns; there was significant engagement with young people in terms of dispensing prescriptions and providing enhanced services, but very little MUR activity; there are missed opportunities to engage young people and their families in adherence support and medicines optimisation activities in pharmacies.

Since 2007, a number of Primary Care Trusts in the North West have, at some point, commissioned an identification and brief advice (IBA) service for alcohol in the community pharmacy setting and almost 100 pharmacies have been involved in providing the service. The alcohol IBA has a good track record in other primary care settings. This paper describes one aspect of a larger study looking at the community pharmacy context. The aim of this part of the study was to understand the attitudes towards and experience of delivering the service in the community pharmacy setting.

Focal points The aim of this abstract is to describe the psychosocial context of medicine-taking for young people living with arthritis Family partnerships, relationships with peers, and the demands of school life all impact significantly on the medicine-taking practices of young people To be able to provide meaningful advice and services for young people, pharmacists must consider the psychosocial contextual factors in young people's lives that influence medicine-taking Better communication with the local rheumatology team, and an understanding of their prescribing practice, would equip pharmacists to support young people with JIA