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Helping Quebec Pharmacists Seize the Vaccination Service Opportunity: The Pharmacy Best Practice Workshops.

ABSTRACT: Vaccinations are a safe and effective way to protect against infectious diseases. The World Health Organization estimates vaccines have saved more lives than any other interventions and every year about two to three million deaths are averted worldwide through immunization. To improve vaccination coverage, pharmacists have been increasingly involved in immunization roles in their communities-as advocates, educators, and immunizers. Community pharmacy-based vaccination services have increased both in the number of immunization providers and the number of sites where patients can receive immunizations. In Canada, health care is under provincial legislation-and so, there are distinct differences in scope of pharmacist practice across the country. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020, in Québec, Canada's second-largest province, pharmacists did not have the authority to administer vaccines. To help prepare pharmacists in Québec to become immunizers, we developed and deployed a series of accredited workshops. In these facilitated workshops, pharmacists were able to share best practices that may lead to providing effective vaccination services, identify common competency gaps, discuss effective patient communication skills, and determine how to target the most vulnerable population groups. Participants were also asked to evaluate the workshop. Our results indicate the evaluation was very reliable in measuring participant satisfaction (Cronbach's α = 0.94) and pharmacists commented that the workshops' learning outcomes exceeded their expectations, and the topics covered were relevant and applicable. The evaluation also asked participants to identify weaknesses of training, so future educational interventions can be planned accordingly. We believe this work will contribute to the continual growth and advancement of the pharmacy profession in Canada.

SUBMITTER: Srirangan K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8005967 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BACKGROUND:In England, since 2015, there has been a formal drive to integrate pharmacists into general practice as a new healthcare service. Research efforts have offered insights into how general practice-based professionals and patients view the service, however, they took no account of community pharmacy teams' opinions. There have been anecdotal statements about opposition from community pharmacies to the service, due to fears of losing business. The aim of the current study was to identify the experiences and perceptions of community pharmacy teams regarding pharmacists' presence in general practice. METHODS:The National Health Service Choices website was used to identify community pharmacies within a radius of two miles from eight West London general practices. The search resulted in 104 community pharmacies which were all contacted via telephone. Pharmacy staff who verbally expressed their interest to participate were then provided with the study's documents. Qualitative, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted inside the pharmacy from which each participant was recruited. Interviews lasted 30 to 45?min and were audio-recorded. Audio-recordings were transcribed verbatim and transcripts analysed thematically. RESULTS:Forty-eight community pharmacy staff participated. Four themes were discerned: awareness ("I knew that [pharmacists] have already been implemented [in general practice] but I haven't really followed it … where does the pharmacist role come?"); interactions ("I'm just so pleased that there's a pharmacist professional in the general practice … because we speak the same language!"); patient care ("if I was a patient knowing that there is a general practitioner and a pharmacist [in general practice], I would … think 'nothing can go wrong at the moment'"); and funding challenges ("if general practices take on the extra responsibility of stop smoking or flu vaccination campaigns … financially, this would affect this pharmacy"). CONCLUSIONS:The current study revealed the perceived impact of general practice-based pharmacists on community pharmacies would be improved communication between pharmacies and practices. Findings will inform policy so that any future framing of pharmacists' presence in general practice considers the needs of community pharmacies.

Project description:BackgroundPhysical assessment in pharmacy practice is not a new concept, yet the idea is still unfamiliar to many people. Canadian pharmacy graduates are expected to be trained in physical examination as it relates to drug therapy. However, standard delivery of course content in this area has not been clearly established, and previous publications have reported low uptake of this practice despite formal training. To aid the future development of a physical assessment course for pharmacists that is relevant to practice and will contribute to patient care, it is important to gather insight from practising pharmacists, health care providers and the public.ObjectiveTo determine the type of physical assessment skills that would be of value to pharmacy practice and the benefits and barriers of these skills in practice from the perspectives of pharmacists, health care providers and the public.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional online survey of pharmacists, nonpharmacist health care providers and the public. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to describe data.ResultsA total of 348 respondents (98 pharmacists, 154 nonpharmacist health care providers, 96 public) completed the survey. Most (64%) nonpharmacist providers were physiotherapists or occupational therapists (only 6.5% physicians). Most respondents felt that performing basic vital signs was relevant to pharmacy practice (79% pharmacists, 69% other providers, 79% public) and felt confident and comfortable about pharmacists using these skills. Palpation, percussion and auscultation were rated less favourably (<50% for most respondents). Nonpharmacist providers tended to be less favourable than pharmacist and public respondents. Seven themes related to benefits and 13 themes related to disadvantages of pharmacists performing physical assessment were identified.ConclusionThese findings provide insight into opinions about the value of pharmacists performing physical assessments. Consensus recommendations on performance expectations to improve recognition of pharmacists in this area is needed in the future. Can Pharm J (Ott) 2021;154:xx-xx.

Project description:OBJECTIVES:To develop best practice guidance for the use of retention strategies in randomized clinical trials (RCTs). STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING:Consensus development workshops conducted at two UK Clinical Trials Units. Sixty-six statisticians, clinicians, RCT coordinators, research scientists, research assistants, and data managers associated with RCTs participated. The consensus development workshops were based on the consensus development conference method used to develop best practice for treatment of medical conditions. Workshops commenced with a presentation of the evidence for incentives, communication, questionnaire format, behavioral, case management, and methodological retention strategies identified by a Cochrane review and associated qualitative study. Three simultaneous group discussions followed focused on (1) how convinced the workshop participants were by the evidence for retention strategies, (2) barriers to the use of effective retention strategies, (3) types of RCT follow-up that retention strategies could be used for, and (4) strategies for future research. Summaries of each group discussion were fed back to the workshop. Coded content for both workshops was compared for agreement and disagreement. Agreed consensus on best practice guidance for retention was identified. RESULTS:Workshop participants agreed best practice guidance for the use of small financial incentives to improve response to postal questionnaires in RCTs. Use of second-class post was thought to be adequate for postal communication with RCT participants. The most relevant validated questionnaire was considered best practice for collecting RCT data. Barriers identified for the use of effective retention strategies were: the small improvements seen in questionnaire response for the addition of monetary incentives, and perceptions among trialists that some communication strategies are outdated. Furthermore, there was resistance to change existing retention practices thought to be effective. Face-to-face and electronic follow-up technologies were identified as retention strategies for further research. CONCLUSIONS:We developed best practice guidance for the use of retention strategies in RCTs and identified potential barriers to the use of effective strategies. The extent of agreement on best practice is limited by the variability in the currently available evidence. This guidance will need updating as new retention strategies are developed and evaluated.

Project description:BackgroundCommunity pharmacies are widely distributed in the United Arab Emirates where community pharmacists' (CPs') perspectives on provision of extended community pharmacy services (ECPS) is not known. This study assessed CPs perception, practices, perceived barriers and willingness to provide ECPS.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional survey using a self-administered Likert-type questionnaire (Cronbach alpha = 0.976) was conducted among 195 community CPs in Northern emirates, selected through multistage sampling technique. The filled questionnaires were assessed for CPs' perception, practice, perceived barriers and willingness to perform ECPS. Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests examined the association between demography and outcome variables (alpha value of 0.05) with further analysis using Dunn' post hoc test.ResultsOf the respondents, 71.8% (n = 140) 'strongly agreed' that every CP must provide ECPs and 39% (n = 76) 'strongly agreed' in supporting ECPS with another 44.1% (n = 86) 'agreed' on the same. The major barriers felt by CPs in practicing ECPS were lack of incentive for employee pharmacists [3 (2-3)], lack of documentation [3 (2-3)], insufficient time [3 (2-3)] and lack of patients' demand [(2-3)]; maximum score (5-5). CPs also responded 'completely' willing to provide services such as blood pressure measurement, pregnancy testing and BMI measurement. Pharmacy location influenced practice score (p = 0.008) and access to the internet had a significant effect on barriers score (p = 0.000). Availability of drug information sources impacted perception (p = 0.038), practice (p = 0.000) and willingness scores (p = 0.011).ConclusionsCPs' perception on providing ECPS was positive and they are currently offering ECPS within their available resources and facilities. Less demand from patients and lack of time were reportedly the major barriers in offering ECPS. Proper utilization of CPs in providing ECPS can complement the healthcare system with additional cost and time savings for the patients.

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Helping Quebec Pharmacists Seize the Vaccination Service Opportunity: The Pharmacy Best Practice Workshops.

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