The International journal of pharmacy practice
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Over 25 million people in the USA have limited English proficiency (LEP). Interpreters are often used to facilitate communication with health care providers. Little is currently known about interpreter quality. ⋯ Pharmacists may assume that the presence of an interpreter ensures accurate communication from pharmacist to patient and from patient to pharmacist. This study confirms that those assumptions may not be valid. These findings highlight the need to improve pharmacy education and interventions to improve pharmacist communication with LEP patients.
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Medication monitoring is important for safe and effective medication use; however, no attitudinal measure exists for a health care provider's medication monitoring attitude. The objectives of this study were to (1) create a measure of a community pharmacist medication monitoring attitude; (2) test concurrent validity using a validated measure of medication monitoring behaviours; and (3) report community pharmacist attitudes towards medication monitoring. ⋯ The mixed methods item development process created a reliable and valid measure of a pharmacist's medication monitoring attitude. While pharmacists had an overall positive medication monitoring attitude, improvements are needed to bolster adherence monitoring and make pharmacy environments more conducive to monitoring.
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The objectives of this study were to, first, describe the information exchanged between pharmacy staff and patients about prescribed medication at the community pharmacy counter, and second, to investigate to what extent this met professional medication counselling guidelines. ⋯ Pharmacy staff members provided little medication-related information at the counter, especially for repeat prescriptions, did not encourage active patient participation, and thereby did not adhere to the guidelines of their professional organisation. Further research is needed to understand the reasons for this.