By way of Advocacy’s various community clinics facilitated by student pharmacists and their community partners, Advocacy allows pharmacy students to utilize and polish their clinical skills and demonstrate the expanding role of pharmacists in the community. The anticipated 2020-2021 programs include:

Social Solidarity in Isolation Initiative (SSII)

• This initiative was created to provide companionship services for isolated older adults in residential care homes and long-term care facilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Pharmacist volunteers also coordinated a sing-a-long for residents to uplift their spirits and provide opportunities to interact with other members of their community as their isolation continues.

Osteoporosis Clinic

• Pharmacy students at the University of Alberta successfully started their own osteoporosis clinic a few years ago by partnering with a physician with a bone density machine. Inspired by this initiative, the Advocacy Committee created and facilitated their own osteoporosis clinic. Last year, we partnered with BioPro Biologics Pharmacy and held clinics at senior community centres, where pharmacy students helped educate patients about the test, prevention and bone health.

Hypertension Clinics

• The Hypertension (HTN) Clinic is a CAPSI Advocacy initiative where students are able to practice their physical assessment and patient interaction skills by providing a blood pressure screening and education service to the community. The HTN Clinic is valuable to patients to be able to correctly and accurately track and interpret their own blood pressure and know when to seek medical attention.

Sleep Clinic

• This clinic was created to help educate both patients in the community and students on campus about healthy sleep behaviours. The clinic intends to screen patients and students for insomnia and provide both educational resources and referrals as appropriate.

May Measurement Month

• May Measurement Month (MMM) is an annual international hypertension screening initiative that started in 2017. The aim of MMM is to raise awareness of hypertension, provide cardiovascular education, promote a heart healthy lifestyle, and collect data for hypertension research and to guide health policy. Each year, we collaborate with students from undergrad, the Faculty of Medicine, and the Faculty of Nursing and work alongside several physicians, including Dr. Nadia Khan, the President of Hypertension Canada. Through our coalition, we have been expanding the MMM initiative in Canada.