Dr Deepa Rao |
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| Position: | Lecturer in Pharmacotherapeutics |
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| Division/Portfolio: | Division of Health Sciences | |
| School/Unit: | School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences | |
| Campus: | City East Campus | |
| Office: | P4-04 | |
| Telephone: | +61 8 830 22377 | |
| Fax: | +61 8 830 22389 | |
| Email: | Deepa_dot_Rao_at_unisa_dot_edu_dot_au | |
| URL for Business Card: | http://people.unisa.edu.au/Deepa.Rao | |
Welcome to Deepa Rao's homepage at the University of South Australia.
I am located at the City East Campus, where I am a lecturer in Pharmacy in the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences.
I teach the following courses
| PHAR 4005 | Applied Pharmacotherapeutics 400 |
| PHAR 4006 | Applied Pharmacotherapeutics 401 |
| PHAR 4003 | Pharmacy Honours Thesis 400 |
| PHAR 4004 | Pharmacy Honours Thesis 401 |
| PHAR 1006 | Pharmacy Practice 1A |
| PHAR 1007 | Pharmacy Practice 1B |
| HLTH 1025 | Health and Society |
Professional associations
Australian Pharmaceutical Sciences Association
Qualifications
Bachelor of Pharmacy, 1997 University of Mumbai, INDIA
Doctor of Philosophy, 2003 University of Minnesota, USA
Research interests
- Pharmaceutical Care
- Consumer perspectives on health
- Migrant health
Research publications
Vitry A, Gilbert A, Mott K, Rao D, March G, 2009, 'Provision of medicines information in Australian community pharmacies’, Pharmacy World and Science, 31 (2): 154-157
Stupans I, Rao D, March G, Elliot E, 2008, ‘English Language Communication Skills- what are the issues for International Pharmacy students? People and Place, 16 (2): 62-70
Rao D, Gilbert A, Strand L, Cipolle R 2007, 'Comparison of the drug therapy problems found in ambulatory patient populations in Minnesota and South Australia', Pharmacy World and Science, 29:647–654. Online First, 0928-1231 (Print) 1573-739X (Online).
Rao D, 2006, ‘Choice of medicine and hierarchy of resort to different health alternatives among Asian Indian migrants in a metropolitan city in the USA’ Ethnicity and Health, 11 (2): 153-167.
Gilbert A, Rao D, Quintrell N, 2006, ‘A cross-country comparison of scheduling and the effect on consumer access to medicines’ International Journal of Pharmacy Practice 14 (2): 95-104 (10)
Semple S, Hotham, E, Rao D, Martin K, Smith C, Bloustien G, 2006, ‘Community pharmacists in Australia: training and sources of information on complementary and alternative medicines, Pharmacy World and Science, 28 (6): 366-373
Smith C, Martin K, Hotham E, Semple S, Bloustien G and Rao D, 2005, ‘Naturopaths practice behaviour: provision and access to information on complementary and alternative medicines’ BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 5:15
Mott K, Eltridge F, Gilbert A L, Vitry A, Rao D, March G, Anderson B, Wade T, Weir D, Lawson T, 2005 'Consumer Experiences, Needs and Expectations of Community Pharmacy'. Final report for the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Canberra
Semple S, Rao D, Gilbert A, 2005 Clinical Safety and Quality in Aged Care, prepared for the Department of Health and Ageing, Canberra.
Community Service
| Organisation Name: | National Health and Medical Research Council |
| Level of involvement: | Peer Reviewer |
| Year from: | 2007 |
Research Degree Supervisor
Honours and Masters SupervisorCurrent Projects:
1. Exploring the current HMR practice model to formalize the follow-up component
| Honours Student: Keoh Tze-Ching 2008 Medication-related problems increase the number of death and hospital admissions every year in Australia. Many of these problems are preventable. Home Medicine Reviews (HMR), can decrease these numbers and improve the quality of life for patients. However, as not all medication-related problems are fully resolved by the home visit, follow-up is often important. Previous study has shown that lack of clarity of who is responsible for patient follow-up was an issue. Nearly 40% of the community pharmacists surveyed believed it was the responsibility of the accredited pharmacists to provide follow-ups. This Honours project aims to explore the current HMR practice model to formalize the follow-up component. This could lead to the development of a set of performance indicators for the ongoing follow-up process in HMRs. |
| Honours Student - Shu Jiuan Tan, 2007 Home Medicine Reviews (HMRs) are designed to decrease unnecessary medication-related hospital admissions which occur especially in the elderly population. Follow-up is the final step of HMR and it allows the patients’ health professionals to understand if the problem is resolved or well managed. Little is known about why this particular step of the HMR process has not been implemented successfully in Australia. This study identified facilitators and barriers of the follow-up component in the HMR process. Barriers to the provision of follow-ups identified were: lack of financial incentives (64 %), not receiving MM plans from GPs (63 %) and lack of contact with the GPs involved (50 %). Facilitators suggested were contacting the GP to obtain a GP’s medication management plan within a suitable time frame, and inclusion of computer software integrated into the dispensing system to aid in documentation and to provide reminders for follow-ups. |
| Honours Student - Shing Lih Yong, 2007 Obesity is a growing problem in Australia. It is a risk factor for conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, Type 2 diabetes and stroke. Several pharmacological as well as non-pharmacological measures are available to aid in weight loss. While non-pharmacological approaches are the most effective, some pharmacological measures such as Xenical and meal replacement products are also effective in weight loss. Pharmacies however also sell herbal weight loss products which have no proven efficacy in weight loss. Herbal weight loss products are reported to be among the most popular products that are sold in pharmacies in South Australia. Consumer demand is reported as one of the main reasons for pharmacies stocking and selling these products. This project therefore aims to explore consumer perceptions of herbal weight loss products sold in pharmacies and factors influencing their use of herbal weight loss products. |
| Honours Student - Charmain Anthony, 2007 Standards for the provision of pharmacist only (S3) medicines in community pharmacy developed by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia require that pharmacists be involved and provide advice to customers in the sale of S3 (pharmacist only) products. The increasing number of internet pharmacies has made it easier for customers to order their drugs online. However it is not known whether the customers purchasing S3 products online are provided the appropriate care and advice as stipulated in the Standards. This project aims to explore these issues. |
| Honours Student - Josie Jarrad, 2006 Background: The herbal weight loss products sold in pharmacies lack quality evidence to support their use. Little is known about why pharmacies sell these products and if they are recommended by pharmacists. Aim: To determine the factors surrounding the sale of herbal weight loss products in community pharmacy. Method: Four focus groups with rural and city community pharmacists followed by a survey sent to all community pharmacies in South Australia. Results: Completed questionnaires were returned by 129 pharmacists (32% response rate). Almost all community pharmacies (98.4%) stock herbal weight loss products. The majority of pharmacists think that herbal weight loss products are at least somewhat effective for weight management (3.3% very effective, 52.8% somewhat effective). Herbal weight loss products are sometimes recommended to customers by 40.3% of pharmacists. Pharmacists frequently use information resources not consistent with the practice of evidence-based medicine (EBM) when obtaining information about OTC weight loss products. Conclusion: Pharmacists sell herbal weight loss product because there is a strong consumer demand for them. Some pharmacists also recommend herbal weight loss products because they have a belief in their efficacy. Many pharmacists do not practice EBM when recommending these products. |
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