Community pharmacists
are the most accessible healthcare providers and should play an
active role in building awareness and advising patients about the
rational, safe, and proper use of herbal products. In Turkey, pharmacy
schools provide herbal medicine training through both
required and elective natural product- and medicinal herb-focused
courses. In addition to integrate information about herbal products
across the curriculum, specific courses should be designed to help
pharmacists attain higher skill levels in this area. Physicians should
also become more knowledgeable about the prevalence of polypharmacy,
polyherbacy, and herbal use among older adults. When
taking medication histories, physicians should actively seek and
record information about herbal use. Physicians may also benefit
from the support of electronic knowledge databases that include
information about the most serious herbedrug interactions.
Therefore, electronic order entry systems should include herbedrug
alerts for potentially dangerous interactions. In hospitals,
clinical pharmacists should also play an active role in patient
counseling sessions, as these are an ideal time to inquire about the
use of herbal therapy and screen for potential interactions. Safety
therapy is essential for all age groups. However, older adults require
specific attention because of the high risk of potential drug interactions
associated with polypharmacy. Consequently, for the
safe use of drugs and herbal products, effective communication
should be established among physicians, pharmacists, and patients.