Pharmacists as immunizers, their pharmacies and immunization services: A survey of Ontario community pharmacists.
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ABSTRACT: Background
To improve patient access to the influenza vaccine in Ontario, pharmacists have been authorized to administer the vaccine since 2012. A survey was conducted to describe pharmacist immunizers, their pharmacies and immunization services.Methods
Ontario community pharmacists completed an anonymous online survey regarding influenza immunization. Descriptive, comparative and multivariate statistics were used to analyze data on pharmacists' personal demographics, current workplace characteristics, immunization certification status and past and anticipated experience vaccinating.Results
Of the 4307 community pharmacists contacted, 18.4% (n = 780) completed the survey. Most (81.3%, n = 603) were certified to administer vaccines, with those practising in urban pharmacies twice as likely to be certified compared to pharmacists practising in rural pharmacies (odds ratio = 2.04; 95% confidence interval, 1.04 to 4.01, p = 0.04). In the past influenza season, 70% of pharmacists had administered over 50 vaccines and 37% worked at pharmacies that had administered more than 300 vaccines. Respondent-provided profiles of immunization services described partnerships with public health, a variety of approaches for in-pharmacy and external advertising and patient vaccine access mainly through walk-in.Discussion
Ontario community pharmacists demonstrate strong engagement with this expanded scope and there is further capacity for immunization service provision through engaging rural pharmacies, addition of other vaccines and leveraging the positive relationship with public health. Patients and the public benefit from easy access to the service and the additional in-store and external promotion of influenza vaccination that is provided by pharmacists and pharmacies.Conclusion
These provincial benchmarking data provide direction for maintaining and expanding community pharmacist-provided influenza immunization.
SUBMITTER: Alsabbagh MW
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6141935 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Background: The benefits of patient-focused pharmaceutical care in improving clinical outcomes and reducing health expenditure have been well documented. However, these services are not fully implemented in many developing countries like China, especially in the community setting at chain pharmacies. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted at nine chain pharmacies in eight provinces of China in late 2019 to assess the difference in attitude, perceived barriers, and expected facilitators of Chinese community pharmacists to deliver pharmaceutical care, as well as their willingness to develop the competencies based on age, education level, and seniority. A quantitative analysis of responses was undertaken by using nonparametric (Kruskal-Wallis) and chi-square tests (followed by Bonferroni post-hoc test). Results: A total of 1260 community pharmacists were enrolled in the survey. In total, 16.3% of participant pharmacists often felt that lack of ability had a negative impact on work especially when providing comprehensive medication guidance (39.0%); 44.4% were unsatisfied with academic degrees; 85.8% were "very willing" to improve ability of pharmaceutical care while only 46.9% and 38.4% regarded traditional practice and continuing education as of lots of help, respectively. Main barriers in capacity enhancement were linked to conflict with daily work (35.4%), conflict with family life (21.9%), and poor memories (15.3%). The most welcomed facilitators to enhance pharmaceutical care development included professional skills training (28.4%), self-study of online resources (20.3%), and adult education in universities (15.6%). Community pharmacists of different age, education level, and seniority held significantly different opinions on the above aspects (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Chinese community pharmacists showed a positive attitude towards capacity enhancement in pharmaceutical care. Specific efforts and reforms should be made to improve the professionalism and to remove barriers based on their age, different education level, and seniority.
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Project description:IntroductionImmunization rates for seasonal and non-seasonal vaccines dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about the extent to which community pharmacies in the USA continued to serve as immunization sites during the pandemic. This study compared 1) the types and perceived changes in non-COVID-19 vaccine doses administered at rural community pharmacies in 2020 (during the pandemic) to 2019 (pre-pandemic) and 2) the delivery of non-COVID-19 immunization services in 2020 to 2019.MethodsA mixed-mode (paper/electronic) survey of a convenience sample of 385 community pharmacies operating in rural settings and have administered ≥1 vaccine in 2019 and 2020 was distributed in May-August 2021. Survey development was informed by relevant literature, pre-tested with three individuals, and pilot-tested with 20 pharmacists. Non-response bias was assessed, and survey responses were analyzed using descriptive and bivariate statistics.ResultsOf the 385 community pharmacies, 86 qualified pharmacies completed the survey (Response Rate = 23.8%). The percentage of pharmacies offering a given vaccine in 2019 and 2020 were similar; with one exception, a higher percentage of pharmacies reported having MMR administered for adults in the pharmacy in 2020 (McNemar's test; p-value = 0.0253). For each given vaccine, the majority of respondents did not perceive a change in the number of doses administered in 2020 compared to 2019. Further, the majority reported no difference in how they delivered immunization services during and pre-pandemic. However, a small percentage of respondents (6.0-22.0%) adapted their services by adopting several measures to ensure the safety and continuity of immunizations during the pandemic.ConclusionFindings highlight the importance of community pharmacies as immunization sites during the pandemic. Community pharmacies continued immunization delivery at community pharmacies during the pandemic with almost no noticeable change to types and doses of vaccines compared to pre-pandemic nor the process of vaccine delivery.
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