Perceptions of formal pharmacy leadership on the social role of the profession and its historical evolution: A qualitative study

Background

In recent years, pharmaceutical professionalism has been questioned due to the social role of pharmacy, which is ambiguous in the literature. This raises questions about the purpose of the profession among pharmacists, despite the efforts of their professional organizations and formal leaders to consolidate the occupational status of the profession.

Objective

To understand the social role of pharmacy in Brazil through its historical evolution based on the perceptions of formal leaders of the profession.

Methods

A qualitative study was conducted between July 2020 and February 2021 with pharmacists who held leadership positions in formal and professional pharmacy organizations in Brazil. The data obtained from the interviews were submitted to content analysis.

Results

A total of 17 pharmacists participated in this study. The data analyzed presented perceptions about the social role of the pharmaceutical profession in Brazil, which promotes access to health through different means. These include the manager pharmacist, who facilitates access to public health policies; the caring pharmacist, who promotes health education and the rational use of medicines; and the technologist pharmacist, who researches, develops, and promotes access to safe and cost-effective medicines. The interviewees also discussed the evolution of this social role based on influential factors such as legislation, clinical movement, pharmaceutical education, labor market, behaviors, and attitudes of pharmacists.

Conclusion

In this study, pharmaceutical professionalism was conceptualized based on its social role, which should be centered on the patient. Understanding such issues is part of the evolutionary purpose of the profession in Brazil and should be encouraged in the behaviors and attitudes of pharmacists despite the challenges faced by the profession.

Patient Satisfaction with Community Pharmacies Services: A Cross-Sectional Survey from Punjab; Pakistan

Purpose: Patient satisfaction can identify specific areas of improvement in community pharmacy services. Currently in Pakistan, no evidence exists in this regard. This study was conducted to determine the needs of patients and the current standards of pharmacies. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2016 and June 2017. A pilot tested questionnaire was used to collected the data from 1088 patients of 544 community pharmacies. Likert scale and one way ANOVA was used to analyze the data. Results: The response rate of community pharmacies was 80% and that of purchasers was 68.1%. The mean age of participants was 35.2 years. The mean overall satisfaction score of participants was 2.78/5.00. Many patients were dissatisfied (1.65/5.00) with parking facilities provided by pharmacies. Pharmacy service time fulfilled the requirements of most patients (4.16/5.00). The counseling person’s good attitude (3.99/5.00) was credited by purchasers. Level of patient satisfaction with the availability of medicines (3.19/5.00), safe storage of medicines in pharmacy stores (3.66/5.00), and quality of medicines (3.41/5.00) were almost moderate. Many patients were very satisfied (4.35/5.00) with readable instructions for their medications. Approximately half of the patients were dissatisfied with the waiting time. Many patients were also dissatisfied (2.28/5.00) with the knowledge of the counseling person. Patients perceived that staff interest in patient recovery (2.24/5.00) was low. No significant difference in level of satisfaction with regard to participant’s characteristics was found. Conclusions: The current study demonstrated a low level of patient satisfaction with regard to community pharmacy services in Pakistan. These services need improvement.

What do the hospital pharmacists think about the quality of pharmaceutical care services in a Pakistani province? A mixed methodology study

The objective of this study was to evaluate the perception of hospital pharmacists regarding quality of pharmaceutical care services in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Province, Pakistan, through qualitative as well as quantitative approach. For qualitative study, snow ball sampling technique was used. In quantitative part, a cross-sectional study was conducted in 112 hospital pharmacists (out of 128 accessed ones) from both private and public hospitals in six major divisions (divisions are the third tier of government in Pakistan, between the provinces and districts) of KPK. The qualitative study yielded five major themes during thematic analysis: (a) patients reporting, (b) lack of patient counseling, (c) lack of participation in health awareness programs, (d) pharmacists reducing the prescribing errors, and (e) insufficient number of pharmacists. A great proportion (67.9%) of the pharmacists was unsatisfied with their participation in health awareness programs. Findings of both phases revealed that hospital pharmacists in Pakistan are not actively participating in the provision of pharmaceutical care services. They are facing various hurdles for their active participation in patient care; major obstacles include the unavailability of sufficient number of pharmacists, lack of appropriate time for patient counseling, and poor relationship between pharmacists and other health care providers.