Previous Health Promotions:
In the previous years, this pharmacy has conducted multiple health promotion programs. Those programs focused on different health conditions, depending upon the present health needs of the population at that time. The health promotion programs targeted health issues such as diabetes, arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Covid-19, asthma and osteoporosis. However, I will briefly discuss the health promotion campaign targeting Covid-19.
The promotion campaign was held between the years 2020 and 2021, and it was the first health promotion program which lasted for almost 9 to 10 months. This health promotion program was the longest in duration, as compared to the other programs because hundreds of cases were being reported every day during the first wave of Covid-19. Healthcare facilities and services were scarce at that time and people were deprived of being given proper medical attention and treatment due to a shortage of staff, hospital beds and other healthcare necessities. Therefore, it was important to run a health promotion program which can help people prevent the prevalence of Covid-19, and if affected by the virus, then the program can help them mitigate the effects of this health condition. Concisely, the promotion program catered to the control of the spread, awareness, cure, and prevention of the novel coronavirus.
The planning phase of the promotion program included the contribution of the clinical pharmacists of this pharmacy, managers, IT technicians, the community administration, healthcare workers/care coordinators and the shareholders. The marketing of the health promotion program was done through direct and indirect means. This included marketing through social media, which according to Sanchez-Villagomez et al. (2021) was the best source of marketing during the period of COVID-19 as the people preferred isolation and most of the people were quarantined. A graphic poster was shared on all the social networking sites of Chempro pharmacy so that people can be aware of the program online. Moreover, TV advertisements were also used for promotion, which as reported by Sharma and Meena (2024) was another important means of socialisation for the people during COVID-19. Moreover, direct marketing such as distributing graphical poster pamphlets in nearby hospitals, clinics and community residencies was also done.
The promotion program consisted of 2 phases, in which the first phase was conducted online, as gatherings were officially banned by the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19. For this phase, the clinical pharmacists of our pharmacy prepared various lectures on the awareness, control treatment and prevention of the virus. These lectures were delivered through online meeting platforms such as Zoom and Google Meet. The IT technicians assisted in the smooth delivery of the program online. However, the second phase was related to the on-site checkup of the patients, which was done free of cost, in which the healthcare workers (care coordinators of our community pharmacy) conducted the Covid-19 test of the patients and monitored their health signs. This helped people know if they were affected by Covid-19 and if they needed to be quarantined. Moreover, it also helped people to know more about their health condition, helping them, to know if they have a higher risk of being affected by the virus. This campaign was successful as hundreds of people provided feedback saying that the information provided in the promotion program helped them to prevent or treat themselves for COVID-19. Moreover, hundreds of people valued the free COVID-19 test screening and monitoring of their vital signs which helped them to prevent or treat themselves for Covid-19.
