Help Your Patients with Walking and Meditation

We are told often how we should move around more, especially given our tendencies to live fairly sedentary lives. We hear numerous reports on how meditation can help stress management. Yet, many of our patients are still not on the bandwagon when it comes to movement and relaxation techniques. So how we do help them become more educated and motivated to want to do better?

Look for Free Services

Across the nation, we see more groups offering free (or asking for donations) meditation classes in community centers and churches. Talk with these groups about having flyers in your pharmacy to help advertise the class. You can even take it a step further and hand the information to anyone that has anxiety or blood pressure medication. Walking groups are popular on Facebook and Meetup. Contacting those groups for flyers would also be very helpful. Naturally, you should advise all patients to speak with their doctor prior to their joining of any groups.

Talk with Your Patients

Getting to know your patients is a valuable part of the job to allow you to become a vital part of the medical team. Take the time to chat with your patients to see if they are encouraged to take walks and participate in meditation. Not all doctors think of these two simple acts to help minimize the effects of stress and disease, or even avoid disease. By giving your patients some concrete knowledge on what they can do to feel better and work towards healthier goals, you are increasing their chances of living a healthier life.

Start Your Own Groups

Check around for someone willing to volunteer some time to lead a meditation group right in your pharmacy. Start your own “walk with your pharmacist” walking group that takes short 10-minute walks around the property to encourage more movement with you, your staff, and your patients. Not only are you encouraging healthy habits, you are nurturing the relationship you already have with your patients. They will be less likely to take business anywhere else when they have a chance to engage with you on what feels like a personal level.

Create A Calendar

If there are a lot of options in your town or city, consider creating a calendar that shows an event with a contact number. Calendars can be picked up by choice and can include a disclaimer to speak with a doctor before beginning any groups. These are especially helpful so that patients who have limited access to travel, or lead busy lives, can easily find a group that works with their availability and they aren’t required to do much searching online.

By teaching our patients about walking opportunities and meditation for stress management, we can help them work towards personal goals to feel better. There is an idea that pharmacists are to provide drugs and teach about interactions but the job is much more than that. We are part of the care team to help heal patients. Teaching and encouraging healthy habits are certainly a part of that care.