Is your group looking for meeting speakers? If so, why not invite someone to talk about medicines.

More than 200 million prescriptions are dispensed in Australia each year, and, at any one time, over 70 per cent of Australians are taking at least one medicine. All that adds up to the fact that medicines are a significant part of life for most Australians, and a good reason why we should all learn more about medicines and their wise use.

Topics

What could you ask someone to talk about? Obviously, the answer to that question depends on your group’s needs and interests, but a few of the possibilities are:

• ‘Common mistakes people make when using medicines‘
• ‘Things you should know about medicines‘
• ‘Getting information about medicines‘
• ‘Using Medimate to get the most out of your medicines‘
• ‘Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) leaflets‘
• ‘Getting the most out of pharmacists‘
• ‘Home Medicines Reviews‘
  
• ‘Information about the medicines most commonly used by your members‘.
  

Speakers

Who could you ask to speak? Again, that depends on your group’s needs and interests as well as the topic you want to cover. Three possibilities are discussed below.

Local pharmacists or GPs
You could approach a local pharmacist or GP, and invite them to speak. Contact them in person, by telephone or by letter at their pharmacy or rooms.

Divisions of general practice
Each local area has its own division of general practice, which is a professional organisation that provides support, training and professional development for GPs in the area. Your local division may be able to recommend a GP who can talk to your group about medicines and their wise use. Each state also has a body that co-ordinates and represents the state’s local divisions of general practice. The state body may be able to recommend a good speaker.

Many divisions of general practice employ people who teach GPs about medicines and good prescribing. Some also employ people who promote Home Medicines Reviews. One of these people may be available to talk to your group about quality use of medicines or Home Medicines Reviews.

The Australian Divisions of General Practice website has a map that can be used to find the contact details of your local and state divisions of general practice. The map can be found at www.adgp.com.au.

Allow plenty of time for questions after the talk, because question time is often the most informative and enjoyable part of the meeting.

Peer educators
If your group is an older persons group, you may like to invite a peer educator to talk to your group. Peer educators are people who have been trained to support and teach their peers about a particular topic. Australia has several peer education projects that focus on quality use of medicines for older people.

Peer education at an older persons group 

In 2004 – 05, COTA – National Seniors is running a national peer education program on medicines issues. The program’s peer educators are available to talk to seniors groups in every state and territory. For further information visit the COTA website.

The ‘Medicine Information Persons (MIP) Project’ is a Sydney-based project run by the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association of New South Wales (see ‘Older People as Educators about the Wise Use of Medicines: MIP Project’ in the November 2002 MedicinesTalk). It has 54 older people, including 37 of non-English-speaking backgrounds, who can talk to community groups. The language communities represented include English, Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Vietnamese, Hebrew, Bengali, Hindi and Tamel.

For more information call 02 9281 3588 or visit the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association website.

Hints

It often pays to do a bit of research before approaching your speaker to make sure they are a good public speaker who can explain medical terms and ideas in plain language, be it English or your community’s native language. If approaching a division of general practice or other professional body, try to talk to someone in the organisation about the type of person you would like, and ask them if they can recommend someone who fulfils those requirements. If possible, seek the advice of other community groups who may have had the person as a guest speaker.

Some speakers may charge a fee or want their travel costs reimbursed, so check this out when you discuss the arrangements with them.

When planning the meeting, allow plenty of time for questions after the talk, because question time is often the most informative and enjoyable part of the meeting. And, make sure the speaker realises that there will be a question time afterwards. If the speaker agrees, it often pays to end the meeting with light refreshments so the speaker can mingle with the audience and talk to people individually.