Global overview of pharmacist and community pharmacy actions to address COVID-19: A scoping review.

Introduction: Pharmacists and community pharmacies play an important role in managing, identifying and preventing the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak. Objectives: To characterize the global panorama of action by pharmacists and community pharmacies in facing the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The scoping review was based on the search for scientific articles in the databases: PubMed; Scopus; ScienceDirect and Web of Science. The search was carried out on August 31, 2021. The selection process was divided into 3 phases: i) title analysis; ii) analysis of study abstracts; iii) analysis of the full texts of the studies selected in the previous step. Studies were independently selected by two investigators and discrepancies resolved by consensus during focus group discussions led by a third reviewer. Results: The final search yielded 36 articles for the review. The main strategies for coping with COVID-19 were grouped into 4 categories defined by consensus between the authors: (1) services for providing care to the patient; (2) product management; (3) infection prevention and control practices in community pharmacy; (4) preparation, sources of information used and training offered/received. Through these, the aim was to involve technical managerial, technical assistance and pedagogical technical actions adopted, as well as structure and process indicators that allowed the continuity of the offer of services. Conclusion: During the pandemic, pharmacists and community pharmacies have been providing essential health services to communities. The results of this review may help to identify the changes adopted to face the COVID-19 pandemic and may contribute to improving the quality of practices in these establishments during the pandemic and after it, in similar situations.

A framework for advanced technology medicines from the perspective of community pharmacists; with or without technology

Abstract Nowadays, the number of medicines manufactured using advanced technologies such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, and 3D printing is increasing along with the accelerated pace of technological change. Evaluating high technology medicines from the perspective of community pharmacists is important for the quality of the pharmacy practice. The aim is to analyze the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of community pharmacists regarding advanced technology medicines and to examine the social and ethical aspects from the pharmacist's perspective. A face-to-face cross-sectional survey was conducted with each of the 879 community pharmacists in Istanbul using a stratified sampling method. In this context, the gaps in pharmacists' knowledge of high technology medicines were determined. It has been found that the pharmacists' level of knowledge and willingness to learn new technologies differs according to the current education levels of the pharmacists and diversity in patient profiles. The pharmacists should close the knowledge gaps and update their information about medicines that are manufactured via the implementation of advanced technologies. The more pharmacists adapt to technology, the better guidance they can offer to society. This will also ensure that communication between the pharmacist and the patient to be built on trust, and significantly improve pharmacy practice.

Evaluation of community pharmacists' involvement in public health activities in Nigeria

The aims of the study were to identify the types, determine the extent of community pharmacists' involvement, and evaluate the factors influencing their participation in public health activities in Nigeria. The study was a cross-sectional survey of randomly selected 130 registered community pharmacies. Pretested questionnaire was the instrument for data collection. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse data. Response rate was 94.9%. The study identified 31 types of public health activities which community pharmacists participated in. Their extent of involvement was highest in patient counseling (4.93 ± 0.25), personal hygiene (4.90 ± 0.37), maintenance of normal blood pressure (4.88 ± 0.32), and techniques for using vagina pessaries (4.85 ± 0.38). Lowest areas of involvement were elimination of smokeless tobacco use (2.27 ± 1.56), use of seat belts when driving (2.03 ± 1.46), and the need to live in a safe neighborhood (1.42 ± 0.53). Inadequate training (96%), lack of pharmacists' time (94.6%), inadequate personnel (92.3%), lack of patients' time (88.5%), lack of profit (85.4%), inadequate space in the pharmacy (82.3%) and inadequate patients' information (69.9%) significantly influenced their participation. The study concluded that community pharmacists would participate more in public health activities if the identified barriers are reduced.

Barriers to the provision of asthma services and perceived practice towards asthma management among urban community pharmacists in Selangor, Malaysia

This study aims to assess the perceived practice and barriers towards the provision of asthma management services among urban community pharmacists in Selangor, Malaysia. The study also highlights both pharmacist and patient-related barriers in asthma counseling. One hundred fifty urban community pharmacists in Selangor, Malaysia, were randomly selected and recruited for the present cross sectional baseline study. Previous studies have explored pharmacists' perception on their roles in asthma management in different parts of the world. The data was collected through self-explanatory questionnaires (containing 47 items). The extracted data from the completed questionnaires were analyzed descriptively and inferentially using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 19. Results showed that pharmacists perceived their roles in asthma management along three major dimensions: 'patient self-management', 'medication use' and 'asthma control', mean (±SD) score of the perception towards asthma management was 99.29 ± 4.58 over a maximum possible score of 110 with 90.26%. There were significant differences between the pharmacy education level and perceived practice of asthma management while there were insignificant differences between age, gender, ethnicity, number of practicing year and perceived practice of asthma management among respondents. Most common barriers towards asthma counselling including lack of time, lack of asthma knowledge, lack of counselling space and cost of asthma drugs. Conclusively, urban community pharmacists in Selangor, Malaysia, demonstrate good perceived practice of better management of asthma with multidimensional dimensional role against in disease care.

Purchase of prescription and OTC medicines in Slovakia: factors influencing patients' expectations and satisfaction

ABSTRACT Slovakia is a country where the purchase of OTC (over the counter) medicines outside the pharmacy is not allowed by the government. This study aimed at evaluating patients' satisfaction and acceptance of community pharmacists. Customer's behaviour and expectations influencing the purchase of prescription and OTC medicines were analyzed. A structured questionnaire having 15 multiple-choice questions was used to analyze the descriptive parameters. Data collection lasted from January to February 2014. The sample size consisted of 357 high-school educated individuals under 40 years of age. The survey showed that the prescription and OTC medicines were bought equally. The participants reported a 96.0%, 96.3% and 90.2% satisfaction rate with willingness and approach of the community pharmacist, pharmacy services and provision of drug information respectively. As for the OTC medicines, 89.5% people considered the pharmacist an expert: 88.2% purchased medicines with pharmacist's recommendation, 97.8% needed a professional counselling and 97.2% required a pharmacist's guidance. As for the prescription drugs, only 72.1% considered the pharmacist an expert: 96.3% suggested that physician's prescription was significant and 88.3% considered pharmacist's guidance in the process of selection of prescription medicines nonessential. A comprehensible and respectable conversation was highly expected in regards to both the OTC and prescription medicines.

Atención farmacéutica comunitaria y su impacto en la percepción sobre el profesional farmacéutico en 3 Parroquias del municipio Libertador del estado Mérida / Pharmaceutical community care and its impact on the perception of the pharmacist in three parrishes of the Libertador municipality of Mérida state

El garantizar una farmacoterapia apropiada, segura y efectiva para los pacientes es fundamental para conseguir una atención sanitaria de calidad. El presente trabajo evalúa la influencia de la Atención Comunitaria Farmacéutica como factor directo en el reconocimiento social y científico del Farmacéutico. Se efectuó el estudio mediante un cuestionario dirigido a 250 usuarios, que acudieron a las oficinas de farmacia del Municipio Libertador del Estado Mérida, en un lapso de dos meses. Los resultados indican que casi la mitad de la población estudiada no ha tenido contacto directo con el Farmacéutico y afirma no haberlo podido identificar. Califican como “Malo” los servicios recibidos en las oficinas de farmacia y catalogan al Farmacéutico como un “vendedor de medicamentos”. Se determina la necesidad de un programa de atención farmacéutica en las oficinas de farmacia del Municipio Libertador del Edo. Mérida.

The guarantee of an appropriate, safe and effective Pharmacotherapy for patients is central to achieving quality health care. This paper evaluates the influence of Community Care Pharmacy as a direct factor in social and scientific recognition of the pharmacist. The study was made through a questionnarie of 250 users, who went to the pharmacies of the Libertador Municipality of Mérida State, for two months. The results indicate that almost half of the study population had no direct contact with the pharmacist and claims have not been identified. Services received at the pharmacy are qualified as "Bad" and the pharmacist categorized as a drug dealer. It is determine the need for pharmaceutical care programs in pharmacies of the Libertador Municipality of Mérida State.