Dataset Information

Evaluation of the first pharmacist-administered vaccinations in Western Australia: a mixed-methods study.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:This study evaluated the uptake of Western Australian (WA) pharmacist vaccination services, the profiles of consumers being vaccinated and the facilitators and challenges experienced by pharmacy staff in the preparation, implementation and delivery of services. DESIGN:Mixed-methods methodology with both quantitative and qualitative data through surveys, pharmacy computer records and immuniser pharmacist interviews. SETTING:Community pharmacies in WA that provided pharmacist vaccination services between March and October 2015. PARTICIPANTS:Immuniser pharmacists from 86 pharmacies completed baseline surveys and 78 completed exit surveys; computer records from 57 pharmacies; 25 immuniser pharmacists were interviewed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Pharmacy and immuniser pharmacist profiles; pharmacist vaccination services provided and consumer profiles who accessed services. RESULTS:15?621 influenza vaccinations were administered by immuniser pharmacists at 76 WA community pharmacies between March and October 2015. There were no major adverse events, and <1% of consumers experienced minor events which were appropriately managed. Between 12% and 17% of consumers were eligible to receive free influenza vaccinations under the National Immunisation Program but chose to have it at a pharmacy. A high percentage of vaccinations was delivered in rural and regional areas indicating that provision of pharmacist vaccination services facilitated access for rural and remote consumers. Immuniser pharmacists reported feeling confident in providing vaccination services and were of the opinion that services should be expanded to other vaccinations. Pharmacists also reported significant professional satisfaction in providing the service. All participating pharmacies intended to continue providing influenza vaccinations in 2016. CONCLUSIONS:This initial evaluation of WA pharmacist vaccination services showed that vaccine delivery was safe. Convenience and accessibility were important aspects in usage of services. There is scope to expand pharmacist vaccination services to other vaccines and younger children; however, government funding to pharmacists needs to be considered.

SUBMITTER: Hattingh HL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5051390 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Evaluation of the first pharmacist-administered vaccinations in Western Australia: a mixed-methods study.

Hattingh H Laetitia HL Sim T Fei TF Parsons R R Czarniak P P Vickery A A Ayadurai S S

BMJ open 20160920 9

<h4>Objectives</h4>This study evaluated the uptake of Western Australian (WA) pharmacist vaccination services, the profiles of consumers being vaccinated and the facilitators and challenges experienced by pharmacy staff in the preparation, implementation and delivery of services.<h4>Design</h4>Mixed-methods methodology with both quantitative and qualitative data through surveys, pharmacy computer records and immuniser pharmacist interviews.<h4>Setting</h4>Community pharmacies in WA that provided ...[more]

PMID: 27650763

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of coordinating policies on vaccinations at the national level. In Australia, the regulation and management of pharmacist-administered vaccination programs are the responsibility of each of the eight jurisdictions (six states and two territories), and have been developed independently of each other, leading to substantial variation. Consequently, there are variations regarding which vaccines pharmacists can administer, the minimum age, and whether these vaccines are publicly funded.Objective(s)To identify opportunities for a nationally consistent approach to pharmacist-administered vaccinations in Australia.MethodsThis policy analysis used the Multiple Streams Framework to identify barriers and enablers within the three "streams" of problem, policy, and politics, and how they affected the development of a national approach. Data were drawn from semi-structured interviews with 13 key policy actors and documents (pre-budget submissions and parliamentary inquiry reports). Themes were generated around actor interests, current and proposed pharmacist vaccination programs, and policymaking processes.ResultsFrom the pharmacy sector, there was little clarity around the need for a nationally consistent approach. This issue was linked to their ultimate goal of expanding pharmacist vaccination programs; it was seen as a means for states/territories with smaller programs to 'catch up' to other jurisdictions. There was also no unified policy approach from this sector; additionally, decision-makers within jurisdictional health departments faced different service delivery models, policy priorities, agendas, and policy actor relationships. Lastly, there was no federal body that had the capacity to coordinate a national approach. Possible enablers include refining the problem definition and re-framing it to a patient-centric model.ConclusionsCoordination of vaccination policies is an ongoing policy issue with implications for pharmacist vaccination programs and other health policy areas in which a national approach is being considered. This analysis provides insight into how this may be developed in the future.

Project description:ObjectiveEar disease in rural and remote communities is occurring at high rates, with limited access to health services and health providers contributing to the problem. Community pharmacists are well-placed to provide expanded services to improve ear health in rural communities. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility, accessibility and acceptability of a pharmacist-led intervention for ear disease in consumers presenting to community pharmacy.DesignProspective preintervention and postintervention mixed-methods study. An ethnographic lens of rural culture was applied to the descriptive qualitative component of the study.SettingTwo rural community pharmacies in Queensland, Australia.ParticipantsPeople aged 6 months or older, who present with an ear complaint to a participating community pharmacy.InterventionLISTEN UP (Locally Integrated Screening and Testing Ear aNd aUral Programme) is a community pharmacy-based intervention to improve the management of ear health. Trained pharmacists conducted ear examinations using otoscopy and tympanometry on consumers following a LISTEN UP protocol. They made recommendations including no treatment, pharmacy only products or general practitioner (GP) referral. Consumers were contacted 7 days later for follow-up.Results55 rural consumers participated in the study. The most commonly reported complaints were 'blocked ear' and 'ear pain'. Pharmacists recommended over-the-counter products to two-thirds of the participants and referred one quarter to a GP. 90% (50/55) of the consumers were highly satisfied with the service and would recommend the service. All consumers described the service positively with particular reference to convenience, improved confidence and appreciation of the knowledge gained about their ear complaint. Pharmacists were motivated to upskill and manage workflow to incorporate the service and expected both consumers and GPs to be more accepting of future expanded services as a result of LISTEN UP. However, without funding to provide the service, during the study other remunerated pharmacy tasks took priority over providing LISTEN UP.ConclusionRural community pharmacists can provide an acceptable and accessible ear health service; however, it is not feasible without a clear funding structure to provide resources including additional pharmacists, equipment and training.Trial registration numberACTRN12620001297910.

Project description:IntroductionMississippi has one of the highest rates of HIV in the United States but low PrEP uptake. Understanding patterns of PrEP use can improve PrEP initiation and persistence.MethodsThis is a mixed-method evaluation of a PrEP program in Jackson, Mississippi. Between November 2018-December 2019, clients at high risk for HIV attending a non-clinical testing site were referred to a pharmacist for same-day PrEP initiation. The pharmacist provided a 90-day PrEP prescription and scheduled a follow-up clinical appointment within three months. We linked client records from this visit to electronic health records from the two largest PrEP clinics in Jackson to determine linkage into ongoing clinical care. We identified four distinct PrEP use patterns, which we used for qualitative interview sampling: 1) filled a prescription and linked into care within three months; 2) filled a prescription and linked into care after three months; 3) filled a prescription and never linked into care; and 4) never filled a prescription. In 2021, we purposively sampled patients in these four groups for individual interviews to ascertain barriers and facilitators to PrEP initiation and persistence, using guides informed by the Theory of Planned Behavior.ResultsThere were 121 clients evaluated for PrEP; all were given a prescription. One-third were less than 25 years old, 77% were Black, and 59% were cisgender men who have sex with men. One-quarter (26%) never filled their PrEP prescription, 44% picked up the prescription but never linked into clinical care, 12% linked into care at some point after three months (resulting in a gap in PrEP coverage), and 18% linked into care within 3 months. We interviewed 26 of 121 clients. Qualitative data revealed that cost, stigmas related to sexuality and HIV, misinformation about PrEP, and perceived side effects were barriers to uptake and persistence. Individuals' desire to stay healthy and the support of PrEP clinic staff were facilitators.ConclusionsThe majority of individuals given a same-day PrEP prescription either never started PrEP or stopped PrEP within the first three months. Addressing noted barriers of stigma and misinformation and reducing structural barriers may increase PrEP initiation and persistence.

Project description:BackgroundPractice-based guidelines recommend patient education and exercise as first-line care for low back pain (LBP); however, these recommendations are not routinely delivered in practice. GLA:D® Back, developed in Denmark to assist clinicians to implement guideline recommendations, offers a structured education and supervised exercise program for people with LBP in addition to a clinical registry to evaluate patient outcomes. In this study we evaluated the feasibility of implementing the GLA:D® Back program in Australia. We considered clinician and patient recruitment and retention, program fidelity, exploring clinicians' and patients' experiences with the program, and participant outcome data collection.MethodsClinicians (chiropractors and physiotherapists) were recruited and participated in a 2-day GLA:D® Back training course. Patients were eligible to participate if they had persistent or recurrent LBP. Feasibility domains included the ability to: (1) recruit clinicians to undergo training; (2) recruit and retain patients in the program; (3) observe program fidelity; and (4) perceive barriers and facilitators for GLA:D® Back implementation. We also collected data related to: (5) clinician confidence, attitudes, and behaviour; and (6) patient self-reported outcomes related to pain, disability, and performance tests.ResultsTwenty clinicians (8 chiropractors, 12 physiotherapists) participated in the training, with 55% (11/20) offering GLA:D® Back to their patients. Fifty-seven patients were enrolled in the program, with 67% (38/57) attending the final follow-up assessment. Loss to follow up was mainly due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. We observed program fidelity, with clinicians generally delivering the program as intended. Interviews revealed two clinician themes related to: (i) intervention acceptability; and (ii) barriers and facilitators to implementation. Patient interviews revealed themes related to: (i) intervention acceptability; and (ii) program efficacy. At 3 months follow-up, clinicians demonstrated high treatment confidence and biomedical orientation. Patient outcomes trended towards improvement.ConclusionGLA:D® Back implementation in Australia appears feasible based on clinician recruitment, program acceptability and potential benefits for patient outcomes from the small sample of participating clinicians and patients. However, COVID-19 impacted patient recruitment, retention, and data collection. To scale-up GLA:D® Back in private and public settings, further work is warranted to address associated barriers, and to leverage facilitators.

Project description:IntroductionThe recent global expansion of routine adolescent vaccination programmes has the potential to protect young people against the acquisition of infectious disease and improve their health. Although in many countries the legal framework supports young people to provide consent for medical interventions if they are considered competent, written parental consent can act as a barrier to uptake as it is frequently a condition of adolescent vaccination programmes. The aim of this systematic review protocol is to document the methods which will be used to identify, appraise and synthesise the available qualitative and quantitative evidence to address: (1) whether implementation of adolescent self-consent procedures can increase vaccination uptake and (2) the barriers and facilitators to implementation of adolescent self-consent procedures.Methods and analysisComprehensive search strategy of all relevant electronic databases for both qualitative and quantitative studies using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. At least two authors will independently review titles and abstracts, extract data and assess the methodological quality of eligible primary studies, resolving disagreements by consensus. Quantitative studies will be reported narratively and where possible pooled in a meta-analysis using a random-effects model. The findings of qualitative primary studies will be extracted, interpreted and synthesised to identify overarching themes as well as similarities and differences within those themes.Ethics and disseminationAs this systematic review involves analysis of secondary data, the study does not require ethical approvals. We will use our findings to assess whether the evidence supports the hypothesis that self-consent procedures can increase coverage of adolescent vaccination programmes. We will identify barriers and facilitators to the implementation of adolescent self-consent for vaccination and make recommendations for policy makers and practitioners in relation to consent procedures within vaccination programmes for young people.Prospero registration numberCRD42017084509.

Dataset Information

Evaluation of the first pharmacist-administered vaccinations in Western Australia: a mixed-methods study.

Publications

Evaluation of the first pharmacist-administered vaccinations in Western Australia: a mixed-methods study.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets