ABSTRACT
Various methods are employed to communicate pharmaceutical information to the general public. Information may be conveyed by a variety of sources including labeling on the product container itself, on enclosures such as patient product inserts (PPIs), on exterior packaging, through advertising, or via direct communication with medical professionals. In many instances, the printed material supplied with a pharmaceutical product may be the only medium used to educate consumers on information associated with the product. Using these printed materials to communicate pharmaceutical information to older adults is a practice that is receiving greater attention. Interest is due in large part to the fact that older adults tend to consume more medications than other population groups. This fact, combined with the onset of visual and cognitive difficulties that accompany the aging process, make the creation of effective methods of communicating medication information to adults in general, and older adults in particular, an important challenge.
