Since early 2014, Barry White has headed up the Community Care Chemist in Belmont. Barry and his team of pharmacists, have been the driving forces behind the innovative PainWISE Pain Management Program –a four-week plan designed to provide effective treatment strategies which combines self-management techniques to help patients manage their pain sustainably.
Here, we chat with Barry in what makes him tick as a pharmacist and to learn more about the pain management program at CCC.
What drew you to join the CCC team?
As a pharmacist of 35 years, it has always been important to me to sustain and nurture high quality professional advice and health solutions to my customers. Community Care Chemist is the perfect platform to share that knowledge. That is why, it is essential to introduce a myriad of health programs to the residents of Greater Geelong that can support their health needs. The PainWISE Pain Management Program is an example of how CCC puts its front foot forward in proactive health advice and strategies. As a not for profit organization owned by our members we have the ideal platform to introduce a range of services that assist the community with their health needs.
What is CCC’s philosophy in Greater Geelong and Apollo Bay?
At Community Care Chemist, we are all striving to become the community’s health and well-being destination – not just a place for your prescriptions to be dispensed.
We want to be there for our customers for their health concerns and queries. This may extend to natural therapies and evidence-based preventative solutions as well as specialized programs for individual diseases and problems.
At CCC, we encourage our pharmacists to develop their special interests and provide additional training in these areas. For example, our manager at Geelong North, David Pyne has a special interest in diabetes care while our West Geelong Manager, Erin Meys, is additionally trained in Sleep Apnoea therapy. Myself, I have a special interest in mental health and the medications used to treat these conditions and as such, run discussion and information groups for clients who are interested. Two of our Belmont pharmacists, Bryce and Kerry, are also trained in the PainWISE program.
Why is pain management such a hot health issue in Greater Geelong at the moment?
According to Pain Australia, one in five Australians live with chronic pain, and of those, between 50%-80% are undertreated. This prevalence rises to one in three for the over 65 age group. Simply staggering figures which cannot be ignored.
Tell us more about the PainWISE Pain Management Program
The PainWISE pain management program will give patients the confidence to manage their pain to maximise their quality of life. The highly experienced team at Community Care Chemist in Belmont will guide patients on what questions to ask their GP and specialist, how to understand the different treatments available to them, how to access health services cost effectively and clearly understand that there are a suite of choices they can make that will help reduce their pain.
Community Care Chemist is hoping that more Greater Geelong residents will be more comfortable in attending group PainWISE sessions to alleviate the common isolation factor associated with chronic pain.
Chronic pain is not just an inconvenience. Left untreated, chronic pain may have a crushing impact on a sufferer’s life including personal relationships, work and lifestyle.
The PainWISE program aims to give patients a better understanding of their pain and empower them to take control of it. The focus is on educating patients about the many different avenues of treatment available, and guiding them to choose the right therapies for their individual circumstances. It does not take the place of other treatments but helps patients to take control of their pain, not the other way around.
Why is Community Care Chemist such an important entity in a person/family’s healthcare space?
With healthcare costs representing a growing percentage of the family budget, it is important to get good advice on available treatments and how best to utilize these medicines effectively and gain maximum benefit.
Community Care Chemist is uniquely placed to offer advice in a timely and convenient fashion and generally without appointments at times that are convenient to the consumer. At Community Care Chemist, we strive to research the health care programs that will be of benefit to the residents of Greater Geelong.
How are Greater Geelong residents improving their health care knowledge and regime?
We notice our members are more inclined these days to seek information and take personal ownership of their health care regimes. What makes this possible is access to reliable advice and information to make these important decisions and best maximize available therapies.
We have seen a great intake for the Pain Management Program which is fantastic to see. No one needs to suffer in silence when there are resources to assist. Anyone interested in the program should come and have a chat with our two pharmacists Bryce or Kerry about how they can help in this debilitative condition.
