Labelling Prescriptions for the Visually Challenged

As a person who is visually challenged, life experiences frequently throw little curves into my daily routine that require me to readjust and re-examine my coping strategies. One incident that occurred has highlighted an area where I feel that pharmacists may be able to help those in my situation cope with one of these challenges.

Recently, while traveling, I had to go through Customs at the airport. I was carrying two prescriptions that, as a visually challenged individual, I had placed in specific locations within my luggage for identification purposes. In the process of searching my bags, the Customs officers moved the prescriptions and they ended up reversed. Fortunately, when I reached my destination, I was able to get someone to read the labels and sort out the drugs.

However this experience gave me cause to ponder what could happen in the case where a visually challenged person cannot get someone to read the label, cannot tell the difference between medications by feel, or has so many medications that she cannot remember which drug is which. The National Federation of the Blind Advocates for Equality (NFBAE) is an organization formed approximately four years ago with head office in Kelowna, B.C. It currently has about 200 members with chapters in several provinces, including Ontario. The Federation formed a committee of visually impaired members (the NFBAE Committee on Prescriptions and Braille) to look into the issue of label directions on prescribed medications for the visually impaired.

As a result of this research, three solutions were proposed to satisfy the different sight levels of the legally blind (0% to 10%) and Braille proficiency within the visually challenged population. The recommendations have been presented at the Chapter meeting in Toronto and will be published in an upcoming issue of The Canadian Monitor:

1. For those who have a fair amount of residual vision, placing the pills in a larger container and printing the label in the largest font possible on the computer is a simple solution at no cost to the pharmacy.
2. For those who desire Braille labelled prescriptions (by law the prescription label must contain the pharmacy name, telephone number, patient's name, directions, drug name, and physician's name), the Committee concluded, after much consultation with pharmacists, that only the directions and drug name need to be on the container in Braille. It based this decision on the needs of the patient and the fact that Braille takes more space on the prescription. A Braille Dymotape maker is available from The Store, The Canadian National Institute for the Blind, tel: (416) 480-7446 for approximately $75. Using clear Dymotape, the pharmacist would Braille the necessary information. The pharmacist would not need to learn Braille as the labeller contains print.
3. Directions in Braille would, in most cases, require more space than normally available. As a result, it would be necessary for visually challenged individuals using this system to have a card, which has yet to be produced, with the Latin derivatives and their English equivalents printed in Braille for reference. The clear plastic Dymotape could then be placed over the printed label so that all required information would be available for the sighted and visually challenged user of the prescribed medication.
4. For those individuals who do not know Braille and/or suffer from neuropathy, container lids with large raised numbers could be developed that would indicate the frequency with which the drug should be taken. The cost of this method needs to be explored with the manufacturer of prescription containers.

Those who wish to learn more of our activities or who have suggestions for our consideration can contact me as follows:

Elizabeth Coates, Chairperson
NFBAE Committee on Prescriptions and Braille
Fax: (416) 489-8948