Research in social & administrative pharmacy : RSAP
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Res Social Adm Pharm · Dec 2006
Multicenter StudyConsumer satisfaction with community pharmacies in Warri, Nigeria.
Consumer satisfaction is likely to affect the image of the pharmacist and pharmacy profession. Efforts should not only be made to track consumer satisfaction with pharmacy services but also to improve it where needed. ⋯ Consumers in this survey experienced moderate service satisfaction with their community pharmacy encounters. The consumers were most satisfied with the pharmacists' professional attitude but dissatisfied with the provision of nondrug services in the community pharmacy. These services are mainly health promotion activities that are advocated under pharmaceutical care philosophy. There is an opportunity for the community pharmacies to introduce new services and enhance their consumer loyalty.
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Res Social Adm Pharm · Dec 2006
From counting and pouring to caring: the empathic developmental process of community pharmacists.
Pharmacists are the most accessible health care provider. As such, they often interact with patients who, for a variety of reasons, are in some form of emotional distress. Pharmacists who can communicate empathically are able to build good patient rapport, which often translates into improved patient outcomes. ⋯ The data suggest that empathic development in pharmacists is a function of social learning and reflection in action. This interplay appears to facilitate empathic responding to patients who are experiencing physical or emotional distress.
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Res Social Adm Pharm · Sep 2006
Prediction of pharmacist intention to provide Medicare medication therapy management services using the theory of planned behavior.
Medicare Part D is a voluntary prescription drug benefit for Medicare beneficiaries. As part of the coverage, medication therapy management services (MTMS) are mandated for beneficiaries with chronic diseases who take multiple medications covered under part D and who are likely to incur annual costs that exceed a specified level. ⋯ Pharmacists showed generally positive intent to provide MTMS. Perceived behavioral control, subjective norm, and attitude were significant predictors of intent (P<.05). Strategies to help pharmacists provide MTMS should focus on finding time and support to provide MTMS rather than individual educational needs.
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Res Social Adm Pharm · Jun 2006
ReviewConceptualizing and measuring pharmacist-patient communication: a review of published studies.
Pharmacist-patient communication in community pharmacies has been studied for over 25 years with little effort to evaluate this research comprehensively. ⋯ Most studies (72%) have used the term patient counseling, although pharmacist-patient communication and patient education were also used. The definition of patient counseling varies across studies. Almost half of the studies (49%) conceptualized pharmacist-patient communication solely as a pharmacist information provision activity. A total of 16 studies (41%) also focused on pharmacists' interpersonal behavior in addition to the information provision activity of the pharmacist. In contrast, patient communication behavior and the exchange process between both parties has been understudied. A total of 16 studies (41%) used a retrospective design. All studies used a cross-sectional design, with varying modes of data collection such as mail surveys, telephone interviews, nonparticipant observation, and shopper studies. Taped encounters are rare. SUMMARY/IMPLICATIONS: This review revealed that most studies have focused on a one way communication of pharmacists to patients. A need for examining the patient-pharmacist dyad is apparent. Future research could explore a greater use of taped encounters to analyze the interactive communication process, affective components of communication such as collaborative problem solving, interpersonal relationship development, and the expertise that patients bring into the encounter.
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Although there is a growing interest in medication safety, there remains much confusion about the terminology used to describe the problem. Some have described the classification of medication safety terminology as haphazard. ⋯ As the medication safety literature continues to expand, it is imperative that standardized terminology be adopted and used consistently.