Development of approaches for system skill-building in pharmaceutical literacy of the population

Aim. To develop approaches to the system development of pharmaceutical literacy skills among the population of Ukraine based on the results of the analysis of world approaches to its integration into national education systems. Materials and methods. The study materials were scientific sources of information on the development of medical and pharmaceutical literacy skills and approaches to their assessment, reports of international and European organizations analyzed using general scientific and special research methods (content analysis, synthesis, generalization system, structural analysis, graphical methods). Results. It has been determined that the introduction of system, nationally adapted pharmaceutical literacy education programs, starting from school age, is a key step towards the formation of a responsible attitude to the use of medicines and the own health in future generations. The analysis of international experience in implementing medical and pharmaceutical literacy programs in the EU, the USA and China demonstrates differences in approaches due to the distinctive features of national education and healthcare systems. Based on the results of the analysis of the structure and content of the curricula of secondary education institutions in Ukraine, a list of topics and issues for discussion during classes with students of grades 10-11 in the course “Natural Sciences” has been proposed, and the main sources of dissemination of pharmaceutical information for schoolchildren through the subjects of influence on them – parents, teachers, agemates – have been identified. According to the results of the study, a system for the formation of pharmaceutical literacy of the population has been proposed, taking into account the influence of educational, organizational and technological strategies, which provides for the formation of pharmaceutical literacy skills at the individual and population levels based on the development of its functional, communicative, critical and mathematical components. Conclusions. The results of the analysis confirm the prospect of introducing a unified national approach to the system development of pharmaceutical literacy skills of the population. Thus, the study of the effectiveness of different models of integration of pharmaceutical literacy into education, as well as the development of standardized tools for assessing its level among the population and the study of the long-term impact of educational interventions on epidemiological indicators and the quality of health of the population and on the economic costs of the healthcare at the national and patient levels is a promising direction for further development.