Every community pharmacist has a life-changing role to play in the care of patients with cancer. This powerful and compelling session features Bonnie Hall, a patient advocate with Multiple Myeloma, in discussion with Tina Crosbie, a hematology pharmacist at Extend Pharmacy. Bonnie will lead pharmacists through her experience as a patient with multiple myeloma and with a patient lens she will highlight several key areas of practical insights for community pharmacy teams.

Ultimately, Bonnie is inviting community pharmacy teams into the circle of care for patients with cancer in a whole new way. Tina will bring her 25 years of clinical practice insights, expertise, and suggested tools and resources for practice to center stage. Her discussion will highlight supportive care topics such as managing chemotherapy induced nausea, addressing treatment-induced skin complications, improving sleep quality during therapy, and implementing effective infection prevention strategies for immunocompromised patients. Bonnie will then address the topic of “the business of caring”; identifying gaps in her care that could have been proactively managed or avoided by maximizing care interactions through delivering billable cognitive services such as MedsChecks.

As described by Bonnie, structured medication reviews are an avenue to 1) establish a new (or renewed) relationship with a patient when they undergo a new cancer treatment, 2) optimize preventative or early management of toxicities through recommendations of over-the-counter products, 3) ensure appropriate vaccinations are up to date, and 4) build a plan of action for routine or emerging care needs over the course of the patients life with cancer.

By the end of the session participants will be able to:

• Accept an invitation or a call to action to play a larger role in supporting patients living with cancer within the community
• Apply clinical tools to prevent and address common toxicities that patients experience when undergoing cancer therapy
• Explore scenarios to enhance patient relationships and health care outcomes through the delivery of reimbursable services
• Reflect on practical ways to help those they serve feel valued through simple, everyday actions that anyone in pharmacy can do, regardless of their oncology background or work setting.

Participants will receive an engaging invitation and actionable advice on embracing this frequently underestimated role in their work, starting with their very next shift. Whether they are involved in dispensing anticancer medications, the session aims to fundamentally inspire how community pharmacists view their part in caring for patients with cancer,

Sponsored by Apotex

This session will take place in room Vela C