Diabetes Management support and education

In co-operation with Diabetes Canada, Weston Jane Pharmacy is helping our patients with diabetes live long healthy lives.

How your pharmacist helps with diabetes:

Determine if you are at risk of diabetes. Your pharmacist at Weston Jane Pharmacy utilizes the CANRISK (Canadian Diabetes Risk Questionnaire) tool as well as other tools such as random blood sugar screening and A1C screening (which measures your average blood sugar levels over the past three months). Your pharmacist can play an active role in referrals to other healthcare professionals as needed, and in educating individuals on how to reduce the risk of developing diabetes in the future.

Take action to live with and manage your diabetes. If you are diagnosed with diabetes, your pharmacist can provide education on the disease and its complications. We show you how to monitor your blood sugar levels and how to prevent or delay the complications of diabetes, and help you set personal targets. We also provide education on lifestyle modifications, such as physical activity, that will help manage diabetes. Your pharmacists can also educate about self-management through the use of continuous blood glucose monitors and blood pressure monitors. Knowledge is power: an empowered patient will always have better outcomes and may be able to avoid diabetes complications.

Get the most out of your medication. This is perhaps the most important role a pharmacist can play. We encourage medication adherence — helping our patients take their medication as prescribed so that they get the most benefit from it. We explain what your medications are expected to do and what the side effects are – so you are not surprised or worried and continue taking them. We also help our patients understand side effects such as hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and teach them how to treat this. Adherence to taking medications has been shown to improve blood sugar control.

Manage your drug costs. As your pharmacist, we are very familiar with drug options and formulas in Ontario, and because of this we can help our patients contain costs while recommending therapy based on the Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines. We help select medications that maximize efficacy, minimize side effects, and may even have a beneficial impact on any other disease you may have, such as heart or kidney disease.