Purdue Experts on COVID-19: Pharmacy professor provides tips for picking up medications safely

Jasmine Gonzalvo, clinical professor of pharmacy practice and director of the Center for Health Equity and Innovation at Purdue, offers advice in a video to help people safely get prescriptions and medication refills during this time.

Gonzalvo, who researches pharmacists’ roles in risk reduction and as educators for their patients, recommends that people use drive-through, curbside pickup or delivery options for medications when possible to stay safe and reduce the risk of acquiring or spreading COVID-19. The Center for Health Equity and Innovation has developed a resource that lists both major and local pharmacies where those options are available throughout Indiana. The list can be accessed at bit.ly/PurduePharmacyCOVID.

She emphasizes that it’s important to continue to receive medication for chronic conditions to make sure those conditions are well maintained. Gonzalvo recommends that people call the pharmacy to make sure all their prescriptions are ready to be picked up so they don’t need to wait, and suggests requesting, if need be, transfer of prescriptions to a pharmacy that offers drive-through or curbside pickup options. People who are at high risk may consider sending a lower-risk family member to pick up a prescription if delivery is not an option.

Gonzalvo’s video is part of a collection on a new website, “Purdue Experts on COVID-19.” She is one of more than three dozen Purdue faculty members who are now sharing knowledge pertinent to the pandemic crisis in short videos on the site.

The idea behind this website is for Purdue faculty from a wide variety of disciplines to share their expertise to inform and prepare the public to respond safely and successfully to this pandemic. The videos include big-picture topics such as the economy, unemployment and the workings of supply chains, as well as those closer to home such as food shopping and produce safety, personal finance tips, and exercising at remote work stations.

Faculty members interested in developing a video to highlight their own work should contact their college communications coordinator for approval and ask the communication coordinator to reach out to Jason Fish at jfish@purdue.edu for recording instructions.

The videos should:

* Be authentic and not heavily produced. Visit the "Purdue Experts on COVID-19" site for examples of format.

* Cover two to three major points about the faculty member’s area of expertise as it relates to the COVID-19 crisis.

* Run between two and four minutes (don't exceed four minutes).

* Be designed to reach a general audience with knowledge that can inform their understanding of the virus, the pandemic and its effects.

Once the college communicator has approved the video, the communicator should submit the video to Jason Fish at jfish@purdue.edu.

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Writers: Kelsey Schnieders Lefever
Amy Patterson Neubert, apatterson@purdue.edu