ABSTRACT
This chapter explores long-term care and the role pharmacists play in this important area of healthcare. It begins by describing long-term care patients and their medication-related problems. The chapter describes the various types of environments and standards for long-term care. It focuses on the role of consultant pharmacists in long-term care. Long-term care pharmacy has become a specialty area of pharmacy practice. Age-related physiological change affects how drugs are absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted from the body. Most drugs are lipid-soluble drugs that are absorbed in the small intestine and pass through lipid membranes to the site of action. The drug then leaves the site and is available for metabolism, usually being transformed from a lipid-soluble drug to a water-soluble drug, which needs to be excreted into the urine by the kidney. The chapter concludes with a description of the satisfaction and rewards of having a career in long-term care.
