Pharmaceutical Care Issues of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis From Hospital to Community

Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the most common forms of inflammatory arthritis in the world, with a prevalence of 0.5 to 1%. While no cure has yet been established, modern biotechnology has enabled highly effective management, if treatment begins early. However, cost and side effects, such as immune suppression, continue to present barriers, and monitoring of patients is pivotal to safe and effective disease management.
Both hospital and community pharmacists are involved in RA patient management, and have responsibilities to this patient population.  Identifying pharmaceutical care issues and ensuring that the patients are managed in accordance to best evidence-based medicine are paramount. Best care is delivered when pharmacists effectively communicate with each other, the prescribers and the multidisciplinary team members involved in the care of the patient. This book aims to tackle the various aspects of the management of RA patients across all the settings.

Louise Grech graduated as a pharmacist in 2002 from the University of Malta and started working as a hospital pharmacist at St. Luke's General Hospital, Malta. In 2004 she was appointed a clinical pharmacist within the rheumatology unit and underwent training as clinical pharmacist at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh and at the Southern General Hospital, in Glasgow. Dr. Grech obtained her M. Phil degree at the University of Strathclyde in 2004 and went on to obtain her Ph.D degree at the University of Malta on design and evaluation of pharmaceutical care models in rheumatology conditions in 2015. She is currently also a lecturer within the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Malta. Her work has been presented at a number of conferences including  the European Society for Clinical Pharmacy (ESCP) conferences, the European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) annual conferences and the American College of Rheumatology annual conferences. She is a member of the International Federation of Pharmacists (FIP), the American College of Clinical Pharmacists (ACCP) and the American College of Rheumatology Health Professionals (ACRHP). 

Alan Lau is Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Director of International Clinical Pharmacy Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) College of Pharmacy. He pioneered the development of clinical pharmacy services for renal failure patients on dialysis. He has published many research papers and book chapters, including chapters in the textbooks Pharmacotherapy, Applied Therapeutics - The Clinical Use of Drugs and Basic Skills in Interpreting Laboratory Data.  He was one of the founding members of the Nephrology Practice and Research Network of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy and has served as Chairman of the Renal Scientific Section in the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. In 2010, he was elected a Distinguished Practitioner to the National Academies of Practice in Pharmacy< and in 2011, he was appointed by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) to be Professional Development Associate for International Programs. Prof Lau is an authority for advancing global clinical pharmacy practice education within international postgraduate programmes initiatives such as the post-graduate PharmD programme run in collaboration with the University of Malta.