Effect of pharmacist intervention on herpes zoster vaccination in community pharmacies.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of community pharmacy-based interventions in increasing vaccination rates for the herpes zoster vaccine. DESIGN: Prospective intervention study with a pre-post design. SETTING: Three independent community pharmacies in Tennessee, from December 2007 to June 2008. PATIENTS: Patients whose pharmacy profiles indicated that they were eligible for the vaccine and patients presenting to receive the vaccine at study sites. INTERVENTION: Pharmacists promoted the herpes zoster vaccine through a press release published in local newspapers, a flyer accompanying each prescription dispensed at participating pharmacies, and a personalized letter mailed to patients whose pharmacy profiles indicated that they were eligible for the vaccine. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Comparison of vaccination rates for the herpes zoster vaccine during the control and intervention periods and patients' indication for their sources of education and influence in receiving the vaccine. RESULTS: Vaccination rates increased from 0.37% (n = 59 of 16,121) during the control period to 1.20% (n = 193 of 16,062) during the intervention period ( P < 0.0001). Cochran-Armitage trend analyses, including the months before and after the interventions, confirmed a significantly higher vaccination rate during the intervention month than other months analyzed. More patients indicated that they were educated about the herpes zoster vaccine by one of the pharmacist-driven interventions than by a physician, family/friend, or other source during the intervention period ( P < 0.0001 for all comparisons). Also, more patients were influenced to receive the vaccination as a result of one of the pharmacist-driven interventions than influenced by a physician ( P = 0.0260) or other source ( P < 0.0001). No difference in the effectiveness of patient influence was found when the pharmacy interventions were compared with family/friends ( P = 0.1025). CONCLUSION: Three pharmacist-driven interventions were effective in increasing vaccination rates for the herpes zoster vaccine.

Strategic defensiveness: public and private responses to group criticism.

This paper explores the strategic processes associated with responding to group criticism. In Experiment 1, Australians received criticism of their country from either an in-group or an out-group member. When participants believed their evaluations of the criticisms were private, they reported being more defensive when criticized by an out-group relative to an in-group member. However, this intergroup sensitivity effect disappeared on some measures when participants were led to believe their evaluations of the criticisms could be seen by an in-group audience. In Experiment 2, which focused on participants' identity as social science students, the attenuation of the intergroup sensitivity effect emerged only when the in-group audience was relatively high-status. Furthermore, in both experiments, increased reports of defensiveness in public only occurred in response to an in-group critic and not to an out-group critic. Theoretical and practical implications for intergroup and intragroup communication are discussed.