A qualitative study on asthma management experiences of Turkish community pharmacists.

INTRODUCTION: Asthma is seen in more than 4 million people in Turkey. Numerous studies have shown the beneficial effects of pharmacist interventions on medication adherence and therapeutic outcomes. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the current situation by examining the experiences of Turkish community pharmacists in relation to the counseling and referral of asthma patients, the responsibilities of pharmacists and the recommendations made by pharmacists to improve asthma management. METHODS: In this qualitative study, the constructivist-interpretivist paradigm was adopted. To conduct qualitative interviews, a semi-structured interview guide was devised to gather insights from the pharmacists. The interviews were coded verbatim. Subsequently, various themes and sub-themes were developed based on the aim and objectives of the study. RESULTS: A total of 14 pharmacists engaged in semi-structured interviews conducted between June and August 2023. The wealth of information gathered during these interviews facilitated a meticulous thematic analysis, yielding four overarching themes: 1) Patient-related difficulties, 2) Communication with physicians, 3) Desired traits and responsibilities of pharmacists, 4) Pharmacists' expectations. Pharmacists placed significant emphasis on their challenges in allocating time to patients, primarily due to high workloads and limited collaboration with physicians. CONCLUSION: Considering the workload and time limitations faced by pharmacists, a collaborative model involving pharmacists and physicians is seen as essential. Enhancing the collaboration between pharmacists and physicians, especially for chronic diseases, holds the potential to enhance public health outcomes while alleviating the workload of pharmacists.

Determination of Pharmacists' Opinions about Collegial Solidarity.

OBJECTIVES: Colleague solidarity, which emphasizes trust, independent thinking skills, and sharing, enables the problems encountered in the health service delivery to be dealt with effectively. This study aims to identify the current situation regarding colleague solidarity among pharmacists, which is also included in Turkey's pharmacy legislation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: "Colleague Solidarity Scale Among Nurses" was used in this study conducted with the questionnaire technique. The scale comprises of 23 items and was scored using a 5-point Likert scale. In addition, there were three demographic questions and six questions to get information from participants related to collegial solidarity in the questionnaire. RESULTS: As a result of the exploratory factor analysis (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin: 0.837), three factors reported 51.029% of the total variance. The t-test indicated a significant difference between gender groups only in the negative opinions about solidarity (NOS) factor (p=0.000). Females exhibited more negative thoughts about solidarity. The ANOVA showed a significant difference in the academic solidarity (AS) factor (p=0.007) among the participants' works in community pharmacies and universities. Pharmacists working in universities had higher means in the AS factor. Moreover, the number of working years made significant differences in the emotional solidarity factor (p=0.000) and NOS factor (p=0.002). Additionally, it was found that the average responses in all factors of the participants who thought that they supported their colleagues in need and that solidarity with their colleagues increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic period (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that colleague solidarity among pharmacists should be addressed profoundly as an element specified in legislation and education processes. It is crucial to determine the level of colleague solidarity and improve it using this scale for different practice areas in pharmacy.

Self-medication and non-prescription drug counseling: Illustrating profession uncertainty within Turkish pharmacy practice.

BACKGROUND: Recommending effective minor ailment treatments and using non-prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medicines is a pharmacist's duty. Although common in most European countries, self-medication counseling practices may differ from country to country. OBJECTIVES: This study explored Turkish community pharmacists' attitudes concerning the present self-medication market, professional responsibilities toward patients' self-care, and the usefulness of e-learning for patients' counseling education. METHODS: The study was comprised of three phases: initially, a document content analysis searched for relevant OTC regulatory and/or practice frameworks; secondly, qualitative individual interviews on self-medication with purposively selected Turkish community pharmacists were performed; finally, a focus group with practitioners and continuing education experts was conducted to deepen previous results. A thematic data analysis, based on the attitudinal theory, was conducted, supported by MAXQDA v12 software. RESULTS: Sixteen documental sources allowed the extraction of three initial main themes: self-medication, classification of medicines and pharmacists' role. Individual interviews outlined four themes that informed the focus group discussion, which produced four new themes. Themes and their codes reflected dissimilar practitioners' cognitions towards OTCs, OTC usage and self-medication, particularly if compared to other European conceptualizations. Contradictory feelings towards the value of OTCs for professional development, e.g., patient counseling influenced by profit-based expectations, were identified. CONCLUSION: Turkish community pharmacists and their minor ailments treatment competences have yet to thrive as a relevant professional intervention. There are risks of missing the best pharmacy practice standards, thus losing their contribution to rational self-care. Besides weakening the societal recognition of the profession to help individuals' everyday health decisions and well-being, there might be a reduced active role in public health.