Health planners charged with the task of building or at least maintaining the health of populations within low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have to find ways of providing steady, predictable supplies of health commodities for unpredictable demands for healthcare and health. To address this issue, this paper emphasizes a focus on aggregate commodity security defined as the continuous interrupted

Background Medication changes during transitions of care is a recognized challenge that has been linked to adverse events. The delivery of medication instructions during transition from hospital to home is a priority area for improvement. Objective The goals of this work were to 1) understand the current experiences of patients and families; and 2) co-design tools to improve medication information

Background Although pharmaceutical staff consider guideline-compliant information exchange during self-medication consultations as crucial, they have not fully integrated it into practice. It is unclear what prevents pharmaceutical staff from implementing their positive intentions into their actual everyday practice. To improve the information exchange during the current consultation practice, a deeper

Background Antipsychotic polypharmacy (“polypharmacy”) involves the concurrent prescribing of two or more antipsychotics for managing schizophrenia. It occurs frequently despite there being limited clinical evidence for this practice and an increased risk of adverse events. Little is understood about why it occurs outside of treatment guidelines, highlighting a current research gap. Objective To explore

A challenge presents itself when a pharmacy obtains multiple non-resident pharmacy licenses and is mandated to comply with the laws and regulations of those states, including pharmacist to technician ratios. Current laws and regulations regarding ratios vary greatly amongst the states. Additionally, non-resident licensees, are at times required to comply with several different state pharmacy laws and

Globally, the availability and delivery of cognitive pharmaceutical services (CPS) by pharmacists has expanded over time. Australia has been no exception to this trend, with government funding to support the provision of certain CPS significantly increasing over the last two decades. Whilst medication management services have been consistently funded by the government for more than 15 years, fluctuations

Background For patients that face barriers to filling their prescriptions, the availability of medication access services at their site of care can mean the difference between receiving prescribed drug therapy, and undue interruptions in care. Hospitals often provide medication access services that are not reimbursed by payers; however, they can be challenging to sustain. The 340B Drug Pricing Program

A recent review of missing data in pharmacy literature has highlighted that a low proportion of studies reported how missing data was handled. In this paper we discuss the concept of missing data in survey research, how missing data is classified, common techniques to account for missingness and how to report on missing data. The paper provides guidance to mitigate the occurrence of missing data through

Background In 2016, the Swiss government decided to back the implementation of an interprofessional patient support programme to redefine and extent the pharmacist's role in primary care. The programme, called Siscare, includes regular motivational interviews by pharmacists; medication adherence, patient-reported, and clinical outcomes monitoring; and pharmacist-physician interactions. Objective To

Background Findings document that patient participation in pharmacy encounters is associated with favorable outcomes. However, there is a need to understand factors that may enhance or hinder patient engagement and pharmacist counseling behaviors during their medication discussions. This review aims to: (1) identify barriers and facilitators for patient engagement in pharmacy consultations, (2) explore

Background Medicine self-administration errors (MSEs) are a longstanding issue in patient safety. Although many studies have examined MSEs in the general adult population, the MSEs that occur specifically in the older adult population and their contributing factors are not well understood. Objective To identify the types of MSEs and their contributing factors among community-dwelling older adults.

There has been much growth in the interest in and use of family-level and dyadic level theories and methodologies to explore the influence of social relationships on health and the influence of health on social relationships. Social relationships include those with romantic partners, friends, siblings, children and care professionals these individuals play a significant role in the physical health

In many countries around the world, people go to community pharmacies to receive primary health care services. Awareness of public views and experiences may help to identify opportunities for greater uptake of primary health care services provided by pharmacists and ways to improve care. Arts-informed research offers the possibility to provide additional insights into public perceptions of community

Aims To explore the impact of a prescribing feedback intervention on insulin prescribing. Methods This was a mixed-methods study in a hospital setting. An insulin prescribing feedback intervention was delivered verbally and in writing to twelve doctors. Insulin prescribing error frequency was compared to ten doctors who had not received the feedback intervention. Insulin prescribing was audited over

Background There are many barriers to deprescribing in the routine care of older inpatients with polypharmacy. Implementation is limited by factors related to clinicians, patients, and the acute care setting. A short (11 minute) e-learning module for multidisciplinary hospital clinicians was developed to address two commonly reported barriers: awareness of polypharmacy and self-efficacy in deprescribing

Background Conducting a systematic country-level workforce needs-assessment is a way to develop coherent strategic and justifiable workforce planning. Objective(s) This article describes a country-level needs-assessment process using a systematic approach (via the FIP Development Goals (FIP DGs) workforce element) as an analytical framework. The needs-assessment aimed to prioritise gaps toward transforming

Background Qualitative and mixed methods approaches are commonly used to understand participants’ interactions with real-world settings and can help health services researchers to obtain realistic details about patients’ health behaviors. However, interviews do not easily capture data about how patients perform health-related behaviors that are not part of their daily routine. A scenario-based approach

Background Sub-optimal medication use results in significant avoidable morbidity, mortality, and costs. Programs, such as comprehensive medication management (CMM), can help to optimize medication use, improve outcomes, and reduce costs. Implementing programs like CMM however can be challenging and differences in how CMM has been implemented may be responsible for observed heterogeneity in the outcomes

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant changes in pharmacy graduate students' (PhGS) lives. While pharmacy graduate programs across the U.S. have reported adjustments due to the pandemic, there is currently no data on the PhGS’ wellness, and the impact on and extent to which offered supports and guidance has met PhGS needs. Objective This study’s objectives were 1) to explore

The practice of reflexivity is widely recognized in ethnographic research as a strategy to identify and explore a researcher’s self- knowledge, beliefs, experiences, and their influence on research. In this article, I explore my journey from a practising pharmacist to a researcher within an ethnographic informed study pertaining to patients with chronic diseases and their medication intake behaviour

Background Global reforms in the education of health workers has culminated in the implementation of competency-based education and training (CBET). In line with the CBET model, competency frameworks are now commonplace in the health professions. In pharmacy, these frameworks are used to regulate career entry, benchmark standards of practice and facilitate expertise development. Objective This systematic

Background Pharmacists who are integrated into the ward team are involved in initial decision making, therefore pre-empting pharmaceutical problems and optimising therapy from the outset. Identifying the barriers and facilitators (determinants) to successful pharmacist integration within a multidisciplinary ward team will facilitate design of strategies to support integration. Objective The study aimed

Introduction Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) helps to decrease HIV acquisition and transmission rates. The purpose of this study was to assess awareness of HIV PrEP and willingness to use it, if available, among individuals residing in Buea, Cameroon. Methods Residents in different communities throughout Buea, Cameroon participated in the study through survey completion

Background Hospital pharmacists play an essential role in patient care; however, a lack of resources means pharmacists are unable to review all patients daily. Consequently, there is a demand for reliable screening tools to allocate care to patients with urgent and/or complex pharmaceutical needs. Several tools have been developed, but no broad consensus exists on the design of a screening tool to

Background The role of the pharmacist in primary care (PC) has expanded to focus on medication optimization and management for chronic conditions. However, identifying the optimal pharmacist practice model to maximize pharmacist workload capacity, patient care quality, and PC provider satisfaction remains a challenge. PC clinical and administrative leaders could benefit from pharmacist impact forecasts

Background Poor sleep health is now recognised as a significant risk factor for chronic diseases and is associated with considerable comorbidity and mortality. Community pharmacists are primary care clinicians with an integral role in sleep health promotion and chronic sleep disorder management; however, it is unclear to what extent this is currently being undertaken or what the perspectives of Australian

Background The management of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and its complications places a significant burden on patients, resulting in impairment of their health-related quality of life (HR-QOL). Little is known about treatment-related burden in pre-dialysis and hemodialysis (HD) CKD patients. Objective This study aimed to investigate the magnitude of treatment-related burden and its impact on HR-QOL

A methodological debate within social pharmacy is ongoing regarding how to apply a qualitative approach. This paper emanates from a workshop at the Nordic Social Pharmacy Conference in 2019, named ‘How do we know it’s good? A workshop on quality criteria in qualitative social and clinical pharmacy research’, that addressed this debate. The aim of this paper is twofold (1) to present the main key points

Background Competency frameworks for education, training and development are widely used in the health professions, including pharmacy. Published studies suggest that competency frameworks have an impact on professional performance. Professional performance that is consistent with up-to-date knowledge and skills influences health care quality and patient safety. This review assessed the effectiveness

Background Prior studies showed the association between inadequate health literacy (HL) and poor medication-related skills, while none of the published studies have comprehensively reviewed and compared the existing instruments used to measure medication-related HL. This systematic review comprehensively summarizes the existing instruments that assess medication-related HL. Objectives To identify the

Background Community pharmacies increasingly offer professional pharmacy services, whose implementation is often influenced by facilitating or obstructive implementation factors. The occurrence and composition of implementation factors vary among different services with discrete characteristics and complexity of the intervention, making it difficult to foresee potential barriers in implementation.

Background An adherence model is required to optimize medication management among chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, as current assessment methods overestimate the true adherence of CKD patients with complex regimens. An approach to assess adherence to individual medications is required to assist pharmacists in addressing non-adherence. Objective To develop an adherence prediction model for CKD

Background Patient-Centered Care (PCC) resides in the center of the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners’ “Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process” (PPCP) and is essential to successful management of chronic disease. However, the widely recognized importance and relevance of PCC contrasts with the limited number of studies in the pharmacist literature investigating patient preferences and expectations

Background Focus group discussions typically involve face-to-face facilitation. There is growing interest in utilising digital technologies to facilitate aspects of focus group research. To date, no study in the pharmacy profession has comprehensively described and evaluated a fully virtual process to focus group research, from recruitment to reimbursement. Objective(s): This study aims to describe

Background Medication adherence for chronic conditions continues to be a challenge for patients. Patient incentives for medication adherence may help. Financial incentives delivered at the point of care may act as cues for medication-taking behavior. Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate patient preferences for specific structures of financial medication adherence incentives that

Background Community pharmacy contraception services are thought to improve access, with the potential to reduce the persistent sexual and reproductive health inequities observed globally. Objectives We aimed to identify the range of pharmacy-based initiatives addressing unintended pregnancy in the primary literature and examine their feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness. Method Using the Joanna

Background The emergence of a new pandemic caused by a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a unique challenge for public health (all age and sex groups). Objective This study aimed to explore the adolescents’ perceptions of preventive behaviors to avoid COVID-19 disease based on the health belief model (HBM). Method This cross-sectional study was conducted on 797adolescents (aged between 12-18 years old)

Background Non-disclosure of conventional medicine use to complementary medicine health professionals may result in patient harm. Currently, no standardised validated instrument is available to measure reasons for conventional medicine disclosure or non-disclosure. Objective The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a multidimensional index for identifying reasons for conventional medicine

Objectives Patient contributions (co-payments) for one months’ supply of a publicly-subsidized medicine in Australia were increased by 21% in January 2005 (US$2.73-$3.31 for social security recipients and $17.05-$20.58 for others). This study investigates the relationship between patients’ use of statin medication and hospitalization for acute coronary syndrome and stroke, following this large increase

Background Prior U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) surveys with healthcare providers (HCPs) have focused on attitudes toward direct-to-consumer advertising and have not specifically examined professionally-targeted prescription drug promotion. Similarly, there are no recent national surveys of HCPs examining their interactions with the pharmaceutical industry. Objectives The goal of this study

Background The enrolment of patients to an outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) service can be a means of mitigating financial burdens related to the provision of care and optimisation of hospital bed management. Objective This study aimed to identify the clinical benefit of the Maltese OPAT service and to quantify the costs incurred to run it. Methods The study period ran for 156 weeks

Background Comprehensive medication management (CMM) is a clinical service based on the theoretical and methodological framework of pharmaceutical care. Service blueprint is one of the most widespread visual tools of service design. It enables description of the processes involved in service provision that ultimately define patient experience. Although studies have shown the clinical, humanistic and

Countries strive to find suitable solutions to offer health services to their populations. Pharmacist-led services are a possible solution to supplement the care offer with a clear advantage of proximity, with demonstrated expertise in medication use. This paper aims to audit the scope of antithrombotic care services available; and to describe the arrangements adopted for meeting the needs of the population

Background The prescribing process for children with cancer is complex, and errors can occur at any step. As a result, many interventions have been used to reduce errors. However, few of them have been designed based on an understanding of the prescriber behaviour that can lead to errors. In order to design effective behaviour change interventions, it is important first to understand the prescribing

Introduction Community pharmacies have an increasingly prominent public health function. This includes addressing alcohol, but guidance on delivery of alcohol interventions in this setting is lacking. We have developed an intervention that integrates attention to alcohol within existing community pharmacy medicine review services. This paper examines the experiences of community pharmacists (CPs) in

Background The Affordable Care Act provides Medicare Part B beneficiaries access to cost-free Annual Wellness Visits (AWVs). Patients receive health behavior recommendations from a Personalized Prevention Plan (PPP) during AWV encounters. Aims: To identify factors clinical pharmacists can use to influence adoption of PPPs in primary care practices. Method: Utilizing a cross-sectional design, 77 Medicare

Background Point-of-care (POC) C-reactive protein (CRP) testing is employed in European primary care settings to differentiate viral from bacterial respiratory tract infections (RTIs) the latter, requiring referral for antibiotics. This service has yet to be trialled in Australian community pharmacy to support over-the-counter RTI management. Objectives To evaluate the feasibility, based on clinical

Background Medication adherence to guideline-recommended therapy is important and associated with a lower rate of death and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) among patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Objective This retrospective study aimed to evaluate medication adherence in four classes of guideline-recommended medicines (antiplatelets, ACEIs/ARBs, beta-blockers, and statins) among

Background Implementation outcomes serve as progress and success indicators of the implementation process. They are also key antecedents to achieving the more traditional clinical outcomes typically associated with a service. Despite their importance, there are few implementation outcomes measures with appropriate psychometric properties, none of which have yet been adapted for medication optimization

Background Transgender patients have unique healthcare needs, providing pharmacists with the opportunity to play an important role in transgender care through addressing the healthcare disparities observed in this patient group. Objective This scoping review aimed to explore the role of pharmacists in transgender healthcare. Methods Six databases were searched from inception: Emcare, Informit, MEDLINE

Background The twindemic of influenza and COVID-19 places pharmacists in a position of high-impact to inform and manage vaccination uptake. Given prior vaccine hesitancy in the US and the current high impact of COVID-19 on the population, it is imperative to understand and address factors that drive perceptions and intention to get vaccinated. Objectives The objectives of the study were to 1) determine

Background Many community pharmacies provide medication and disease state management services with and without specific remuneration. Availability of these services is often reported, however little is known about factors influencing the intensity of their provision. Objective To investigate factors associated with the intensity of provision of selected government remunerated and unremunerated community

Introduction Community pharmacists are increasingly providing a range of professional health services. Whilst research provides evidence of their benefits, knowledge translation into practice has been challenging both in Australia and internationally. An opportunity to develop a granular understanding of factors driving successful implementation was presented by the Pharmacy Diabetes Screening Trial

Background A suboptimal meta-analysis with misleading conclusions, frequently published in the healthcare journals, can compromise decision making in clinical practice. Objective To evaluate the reporting quality, methodological quality, and risk of bias of meta-analyses of pharmacy services. Methods Systematic searches to identify all the meta-analyses reporting the effect of pharmacy services were

The concept of mental workload is well studied from a learner's perspective but has yet to be better understood from the perspective of an assessor. Mental workload is largely associated with cognitive load theory, which describes three different types of load. Intrinsic load deals with the complexity of the task, extraneous load describes distractors to the task at hand, and germane load focuses on

Background Chronic anticholinergic medication (ACM) prescribing with antipsychotics when no longer clinically indicated can lead to serious side effects and adversely impact patient quality of life. Objectives Through modifications of previously described deprescribing strategies undertaken in an academic, schizophrenia clinic, this quality improvement (QI) project aimed to bolster ACM deprescription

Background Implementation factors are hypothesised to moderate the implementation of innovations. Although individual barriers and facilitators have been identified for the implementation of different evidence-based services in pharmacy, relationships between implementation factors are usually not considered. Objectives To examine how a network of implementation factors and the position of each factor

Introduction Autoimmune disorders are chronic, self-mediated, misdirected immune responses against their own immune system. It required intensive, complex and costly drug treatment regimen increased the risk of pharmacotherapy error and adversely affects patients. Hence, pharmacist care will have vital roles in autoimmune disorders to achieve health related outcomes. Objectives This review aimed to

Background Prescribing errors are prevalent in hospital settings with provision of feedback recommended to support prescribing of doctors. Feedback on prescribing has been described as feasible and valued but limited by doctors, with pharmacists described as credible facilitators of prescribing feedback. Evidence supporting prescribing feedback has been limited to date. A formalised programme of pharmacist-led

Background Evaluations of computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems have revealed that reductions in certain types of medication errors occur simultaneously with the emergence of system-related errors – errors that are unlikely or not possible to occur with the use of paper-based medication charts. System-related errors appear to persist many years post-implementation of CPOE, although little