In collaboration with the American Foundation for the Blind, the ASCP Foundation has developed guidelines for prescription labeling and consumer medication information for persons with vision loss. An advisory board identified the components of the guidelines, which were then circulated to stakeholders from community pharmacy, state boards of pharmacy, pharmacy software vendors, vision advocacy groups, and other relevant organizations for comment. In addition to specific format recommendations for labeling and consumer medication information, the guidelines also contain suggestions for making information accessible to people for whom larger print is not useful and information on resources, services, and assistive devices that pharmacists and pharmacies can share with their patients with vision loss. 

Most older people who lose their vision due to age-related eye disease are not aware of services that can help them cope with vision loss. Pharmacists and pharmacies have an important role to play in directing their patients with vision loss to rehabilitation services, assistive technology, and other resources. 

With no requirements for the format of information on prescription labels and inadequate formatting requirements for consumer medication information, guidelines are needed to ensure accessibility of medication use information and to enable pharmacists and pharmacies to meet the needs of their patients with vision loss. 

The guidelines include general recommendations for prescription labels as well as specific recommendations for large-print prescription labels, consumer medication information included with prescriptions, and distinguishing prescription containers. The final draft of the guidelines is available on the ASCP Foundation's Web site at http://www.ascpfoundation.org/downloads/Vision_GLs.pdf.

The ASCP Foundation's new Practice Innovation Award will recognize individuals and/or organizations that demonstrate innovation in senior care pharmacy. The first award will be presented at Senior Care Pharmacy '07, ASCP's 38th Annual Meeting and Exhibition, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A maximum of two programs will be recognized. The recipients will receive a plaque and a $5,000 cash award. 

Nomination materials, including eligibility, selection criteria, and requirements of award recipients, may be obtained from the ASCP Foundation's Web site. The deadline for receipt of nominations is August 30. 

The Practice Innovation Award is sponsored by sanofi-aventis U.S., LLC.

In a joint project, the ASCP Foundation and ASCP are surveying peer professionals in nursing facilities to better understand the relative importance of the services provided by consultant pharmacists. The goal of the survey is to identify those service areas where the consultant pharmacist is exceeding expectations and, conversely, to identify any perceived gaps in services. Medical directors, directors of nursing, and nursing facility administrators are being included in the survey to assess, from their perspective, the importance of the services provided by the consultant pharmacist. 

The survey data is expected to be the genesis for new educational programs and tools to assist consultant pharmacists in bridging any service gaps identified. In addition, the information collected will allow ASCP to continue to be a strong advocate with government policy makers, payers, patients, and care givers about the valuable services consultant pharmacists provide as health practitioners. 

The results of the survey will be reported at a symposium during ASCP's Annual Meeting. The survey is sponsored by Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals.

Just in time for the holiday season and your seasonal displays, the ASCP Foundation is offering "Main Street Pharmacy," a collectible ceramic figurine depicting a small town pharmacy decorated for the winter holidays. Part of the Original Snow Village series produced by Department 56, this piece was first introduced in December 2006. 

Click here for additional information and to purchase.

The date of the ASCP Foundation's 2007 raffle drawing has been extended, so you still have an opportunity to enter. When we sell 1,000 tickets, we'll pick the winners. 

Last year, we decided to offer you a chance to win something great in exchange for your support, and three lucky people did. Based on survey feedback from the raffle participants, this year we are offering even more options with a choice of vehicle as the top prize ~ a new car, truck motorcycle or boat. The winner chooses. 

Please help the Foundation reach its goal. When you buy a raffle ticket, not only do you have great odds of winning, but you also help support our mission. It's easy ~ just click here: I want to win!

Goldie W. Rivkin, former vice chair of the Montgomery County (MD) Commission on Aging, is the consumer representative on the ASCP Foundation Board of Trustees. A planner skilled in analyzing population and economic trends to prepare communities for the future, Ms. Rivkin is especially attuned to the needs and impacts of a new generation of aging citizens. She has also served as vice chair of the Commission on the Future of Montgomery County, focusing on housing, land use, transportation, open space, and recreation. 

A principal of the consulting firm Rivkin Associates in Bethesda, Maryland, Ms. Rivkin has held major planning and research assignments in the United States at federal, state, and local levels as well as in developing countries, including Honduras, Tunisia, Swaziland, Kenya, Jamaica, Peru, and Brazil. In addition, she helped organize the UNESCO report on Settlement in the Asia and Pacific Region and the United Nations/Habitat Global Report on Human Settlement. She was consultant to the people of Bikini Atoll, developing plans for a resettlement community and reparations claims for these Pacific Islanders who were displaced by the U.S. weapons testing program. 

Ms. Rivkin is an adjunct faculty member of the University of Maryland University College, teaching land use management in the Environmental and Energy Management program. In her capacity as a Woodrow Wilson Foundation Visiting Fellow, she speaks at liberal arts college campuses about planning trends, issues, and professional practice in the United States and developing countries. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, National Association of Environmental Professionals, and Lambda Alpha, an honorary land economics society. 

Ms. Rivkin received a bachelor's degree in Architectural Sciences from Radcliffe College, and a Master in City Planning (MCP) degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design where she was a Sears Roebuck Fellow. 

*Final in a series of six new trustee profiles ~ The ASCP Foundation Board of Trustees elected six new public members at its meeting last October. Public members are individuals outside the leadership of ASCP who bring to the Board expertise and perspective from disciplines involved in geriatric and family medicine, gerontology, public policy, and long-term care.