A timely pharmacist referral and collaborative care approach can set off a chain of positive lifestyle changes.
In an interview with Pharmacy Times, Anna L. Lindahl, PharmD, clinical pharmacy specialist, pharmacy care management with UPMC Health Plan, and Ellen Sobota, MS, RD, LDN, NBC-HWC, lead lifestyle health coach with UPMC Health Plan, continued their discussion on National Nutrition Month, exploring how structured wellness programs, pharmacist-health coach collaboration, and incremental habit-building can meaningfully help to improve both medication adherence and long-term health outcomes in patients with chronic disease.
Sobota opened by addressing the barriers that pharmacists frequently encounter, including patients who intellectually understand what they should be doing but feel overwhelmed by the prospect of a wholesale lifestyle change. Structured wellness programs, she explained, help dismantle this all-or-nothing thinking by breaking goals into manageable steps. A single success in one area, such as improving nutrition, can build the psychological momentum needed to improve medication adherence, reinforcing a positive feedback loop that supports sustained behavior change.
I see the connected care plan as a pit crew in a race that is essential to a racing team. Each pit crew member plays a role in the performance and outcome of a race, and each has their own specific task, but they must work together. That's the same thing that we do for your health and wellness. —Ellen Sobota, MS, RD, LDN, NBC-HWC
Lindahl illustrated the compounding value of pharmacist referrals through a compelling clinical example involving asthma management. Beyond counseling on maintenance therapy adherence and asthma action plans, she highlighted tobacco use screening as one of the most impactful components of a pharmacist’s asthma-related counseling. Connecting patients to smoking cessation resources, including health coaches, represents a high-yield opportunity to improve both pharmacological outcomes and overall respiratory health. In a separate case, Lindahl described a patient who had abandoned a prescribed medication due to chronic pharmacy stock shortages. A referral enabling medication delivery eliminated the patient’s guilt and cognitive burden around nonadherence, freeing mental energy that the patient redirected toward exercise and, subsequently, improved nutrition. This cascade of improvements, initiated by a single logistical referral, underscores the outsized impact pharmacists can have when they proactively address access barriers.
Both professionals converged on a unifying message for pharmacists: Encourage patients to plan, establish a backup plan, and seek collaborative support without hesitation. Lindahl reinforced that medication adherence remains the single most important determinant of a drug’s effectiveness and that pharmacists are well-positioned to help patients understand the “whys” behind their treatment regimens. Sobota echoed this sentiment from a dietitian’s perspective, emphasizing that dietary choices directly affect medication performance—and that no patient needs to navigate these decisions alone. Both Lindahl and Sobota affirmed that pharmacist–health coach collaboration is not only valuable but can be an essential tool for helping patients achieve meaningful, lasting health outcomes in an era of increasingly complex chronic disease management.
Part 1 of the interview with Lindahl and Sobota can be found
