scholarly journals Barriers to Purchasing Narcan® in Georgia: A Survey of Pharmacy Staff

Author(s):  
Thomas E Griner ◽  
Sheryl Strasser ◽  
Stacie Kershner ◽  
Ashli Owen-Smith ◽  
Matthew Hayat
Keyword(s):  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lim Jit Fan Christina ◽  
Goh Boon Kwang ◽  
Chee Wing Ling Vivian ◽  
Tang Woh Peng ◽  
Goh Qiuling Bandy

BACKGROUND Traditionally, patients wishing to obtain their prescription medications have had to present themselves physically at pharmacy counters and collect their medications via face-to-face interactions with pharmacy staff. Prescription in Locker Box (PILBOX) is a new innovation which allows patients and their caregivers to collect their medication asynchronously, 24/7 at their convenience, from medication lockers instead of from pharmacy staff and at any time convenient to them instead of being restricted to pharmacy operating hours. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine the willingness by patients/caregivers to use this new innovation and factors that affect their willingness. METHODS This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted over 2 months at 2 public primary healthcare centres in Singapore. Patients or caregivers who were at least 21 yo and turned up at the pharmacies to collect medications were administered a self-developed 3-part questionnaire face-to-face by trained study team members, if they gave their consent to participate in the study. RESULTS A total of 222 participants completed the study. About 40% of them participants were willing to use the PILBOX to collect their medications. Amongst the participants who were keen to use the PILBOX service, slightly more than half (i.e. 52.8%) of them were willing to pay for the PILBOX service. The participants felt that the ease of use (3.46±1.21 i.e. mean of ranking score ± standard deviation) of the PILBOX was the most important factor that would affect their willingness to use the medication pick up service. This was followed by “waiting time” (3.37±1.33), cost of using the medication pick up service (2.96±1.44) and 24/7 accessibility (2.62±1.35). This study also found that age (p=0.006), language literacy (p=0.000), education level (p=0.000), working status (p=0.011) and personal monthly income (p=0.009) were factors that affected the willingness of the patients or caregivers to use the PILBOX. CONCLUSIONS Patients and caregivers are keen to use PILBOX to collect their medications for its convenience and the opportunity to save time, if it is easy to use and not costly.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Sevikyan ◽  
I Kazaryan

Abstract Background Medicines information is important for patients as it assists them in achieving more safe and effective use of pharmaceuticals. Many patients seek information from community pharmacies' staff. The objectives of this study were to identify specific topics of medicines information which patients expect to receive at community pharmacies. Methods Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 1059 visitors of community pharmacies in Armenia. Previously developed questionnaire was used for interviewing patients. Data were analysed with the SPSS statistical software. Results Most of participants acknowledged importance of receiving from community pharmacies' staff information on therapeutic indications of medicines (91.1%), dosage and method of administration (90.8%), the duration of treatment (86.3%), expiry date (85.7%), adverse reactions (85.0%), contraindications (84.6%), storage conditions (77.5%) and type of activity (76.0%). Importance of receiving information on some specific topics depends on patients' age. Participants' acknowledgement of information on interaction with other medicines, certain categories of users, and potential effects on the ability to drive is decreasing with patients' age increasing (p < 0.001). The opposite trend was observed with attitude to receiving information on medicine price that was mostly valued by elderly patients (p = 0.046). The number of patients who trust the information provided was higher among those who more often received comprehensive responses from pharmacists and pharmacy assistants (p < 0.001). Conclusions Receiving medicines information from the staff of community pharmacies is important for patients, and the majority of them trust to information received. Patients are mainly provided with comprehensive responses to their questions about medicines, and there was dependence between a frequency of receiving comprehensive responses and a level of patients' trust the information provided by pharmacy staff. Key messages Increasing patients’ awareness on their right to get medicines information can be beneficial. Comprehensive responses increase patients trust medicines information provided by pharmacists.


2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-228
Author(s):  
Delesha M. Carpenter ◽  
Courtney A. Roberts ◽  
Jill E. Lavigne ◽  
Wendi F. Cross

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S709-S710
Author(s):  
Rahul Malhotra ◽  
Sumithra Suppiah ◽  
Yi Wen Tan

Abstract In Singapore, while many older people cannot read English, prescription medication labels (PMLs) are predominantly dispensed in English. This qualitative study documented the challenges faced and solutions employed by users (i.e. older Singaporeans) and dispensers (i.e. pharmacy staff) of PMLs. In total, 30 in-depth interviews were conducted; 20 were equally divided between older Singaporeans (≥60 years) who could read English and those with limited/no English reading ability, and 10 were conducted with pharmacy staff across 6 polyclinics. The audio-taped interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. The interviews with older Singaporeans and pharmacy staff revealed similar challenges in using PMLs. The first challenge related to reading and understanding PMLs by older people, mainly due to their limited English proficiency (LEP) or illiteracy. Consequently, older Singaporeans often relied on family members, domestic workers or pharmacy staff to help them interpret PMLs. Specifically, to address LEP, pharmacy staff reported translating PML instructions verbally and also handwriting them on PMLs. For illiterate patients, pharmacy staff reported drawing illustrations on PMLs to communicate key medication information. The second challenge related to PML readability, due to small font size. To address this, pharmacy staff routinely re-wrote medication information on PMLs in larger handwriting. Such improvised solutions by pharmacy staff to address the challenges faced by older Singaporeans in using PMLs indicate a pressing need for system-level improvements to PMLs. Improvements such as standardised and legible bilingual medication instructions and/or pictograms would appreciably facilitate medication counselling and allow for better understanding of PMLs by older Singaporeans.


BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. e025101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Ffion Jones ◽  
Rebecca Owens ◽  
Anna Sallis ◽  
Diane Ashiru-Oredope ◽  
Tracey Thornley ◽  
...  

ObjectivesCommunity pharmacists and their staff have the potential to contribute to antimicrobial stewardship (AMS). However, their barriers and opportunities are not well understood. The aim was to investigate the experiences and perceptions of community pharmacists and their teams around AMS to inform intervention development.DesignInterviews and focus groups were used to explore the views of pharmacists, pharmacy staff, general practitioners (GPs), members of pharmacy organisations and commissioners. The questioning schedule was developed using the Theoretical Domains Framework which helped inform recommendations to facilitate AMS in community pharmacy.Results8 GPs, 28 pharmacists, 13 pharmacy staff, 6 representatives from pharmacy organisations in England and Wales, and 2 local stakeholders participated.Knowledge and skills both facilitated or hindered provision of self-care and compliance advice by different grades of pharmacy staff. Some staff were not aware of the impact of giving self-care and compliance advice to help control antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The pharmacy environment created barriers to AMS; this included lack of time of well-qualified staff leading to misinformation from underskilled staff to patients about the need for antibiotics or the need to visit the GP, this was exacerbated by lack of space. AMS activities were limited by absent diagnoses on antibiotic prescriptions.Several pharmacy staff felt that undertaking patient examinations, questioning the rationale for antibiotic prescriptions and performing audits would allow them to provide more tailored AMS advice.ConclusionsInterventions are required to overcome a lack of qualified staff, time and space to give patients AMS advice. Staff need to understand how self-care and antibiotic compliance advice can help control AMR. A multifaceted educational intervention including information for staff with feedback about the advice given may help. Indication for a prescription would enable pharmacists to provide more targeted antibiotic advice. Commissioners should consider the pharmacists’ role in examining patients, and giving advice about antibiotic prescriptions.


1996 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 1381-1386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis J Pabis ◽  
Peter G Dorson ◽  
M Lynn Crismon

OBJECTIVE: To assess the use of fluphenazine decanoate and haloperidol decanoate in an inpatient setting. DESIGN: A prospective observational study conducted over a 3-month period. SETTING: A 400-bed state psychiatric hospital. INTERVENTIONS: The psychiatric pharmacy staff evaluated the medical records and new orders of 30 consecutive patients receiving depot antipsychotic formulations using a detailed evaluation form and the hospital pharmacy computer database. Criteria for evaluation were derived from the medical literature and product information, and included the following areas: diagnosis, stabilization on a short-acting form of the antipsychotic, appropriateness of dosage conversion to depot therapy, concomitant administration of short-acting antipsychotics (and duration of concomitant medications), and plasma concentration monitoring. RESULTS: Only 7 patients (23%) received what would be considered optimal depot antipsychotic therapy. These patients were receiving a stable dosage of a short-acting antipsychotic prior to conversion to depot therapy (i.e., ≥7 d), received optimal dose conversion to a depot form, and received optimum overlap with a short-acting preparation (i.e., overlap ≤7 d with fluphenazine HCl and 7–30 d with haloperidol HCl). When length of stay data were evaluated, no significant differences were observed in patients who received optimal therapy versus those who did not. There was also no difference in length of stay when the study group was compared with an age-, sex-, and diagnosis-matched cohort group. However, quantitatively fewer adverse effects were reported for patients whose treatment was considered optimal on the basis of the evaluation criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Depot antipsychotic therapy frequently did not meet the criteria for optimal use. This did not affect length of hospital stay in these individuals. However, individuals who met the criteria experienced quantitatively fewer adverse events.


Pharmacy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Sara S. McMillan ◽  
Hidy Chan ◽  
Laetitia H. Hattingh

Community pharmacies are well positioned to participate in harm-minimisation services to reduce harms caused by both licit and illicit substances. Considering developments in pharmacist practices and the introduction of new professional pharmacy services, we identified a need to explore the contemporary role of community pharmacy in harm minimisation. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken to explore the opinions of stakeholders, pharmacy staff, and clients about the role of community pharmacy in harm minimisation, including provision of current services, experiences, and expectations. Participants (n = 28) included 5 stakeholders, 9 consumers, and 14 staff members from seven community pharmacies. Three over-arching themes were identified across the three participants groups: (i) scope and provision, (ii) complexity, and (iii) importance of person-centred advice and support in relation to community pharmacy harm minimisation services. Community pharmacies are valuable healthcare destinations for delivery of harm minimisation services, with scope for service expansion. Further education, support, and remuneration are needed, as well as linkage to other sector providers, in order to ensure that pharmacists and pharmacy staff are well equipped to provide a range of harm minimisation services.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. e049218
Author(s):  
Deborah Swinglehurst ◽  
Nina Fudge

ObjectivesWe explore how older patients affected by polypharmacy manage the ‘hidden work’ of organising their medicines, how they make sense of this work and integrate it into their lives.Design and settingEthnographic study observing patients over 18–24 months in patients’ homes, general practice and community pharmacy, in England, UK.Participants and methodsEthnographic case study including longitudinal follow-up of 24 patients aged 65 or older and prescribed ten or more items of medication. Our dataset includes: 562 hours of ethnographic observation across patients homes, community pharmacies and general practices; 47 audio-recorded interviews with patients about their lives and medicines practices; cultural probes (photographs, body maps, diaries and imagined ‘wishful thinking’ conversations); fieldnotes from regular home visits; telephone calls, and observation/video-recording of healthcare encounters. We apply a ‘practice theory’ lens to our analysis, illuminating what is being accomplished, why and by whom.ResultsAll patients had developed strategies and routines for organising medicines into their lives, negotiating medicine taking to enable acceptable adherence and make their medicines manageable. Strategies adopted by patients often involved the use of ‘do-it-yourself’ dosette boxes. This required careful ‘organising’ work similar to that done by pharmacy staff preparing multicompartment compliance aids (MCCAs). Patients incorporated a range of approaches to manage supplies and flex their regimens to align with personal values and priorities. Practices of organising medicines are effortful, creative and often highly collaborative. Patients strive for adherence, but their organisational efforts privilege ‘living with medicines’ over taking medicines strictly ‘as prescribed’.ConclusionsPolypharmacy demands careful organising. The burden of organising polypharmacy always falls somewhere, whether undertaken by pharmacists as they prepare MCCAs or by patients at home. Greater appreciation among prescribers of the nature and complexity of this work may provide a useful point of departure for tackling the key issue that sustains it: polypharmacy.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-42
Author(s):  
LIa Alfa Rosida ◽  
Sudiro Sudiro

The indicator achievement of minimum service standard (MSS) for the accuracy of distributingdrugs in Pharmacy Unit of Keluarga Sehat Hospital has not been achieved, even the incidence ofthe distributionerror from 2013 to 2016 continues to increase. The purpose of this researchwas to analyze the quality control process in the implementation of MSS in Pharmacy Unit of Keluarga Sehat Hospital. This was a qualitative research, with research subject 3pharmacy officers and 3 people of pharmacy management services.Data collectedby in-depth interview and observation of pharmaceutical performance report data and analysed by content analysis. The result of the research showed that the evaluation of pharmacy staff performance has not been implemented, because there is no performance appraisal indicator yet. Comparison was done only by comparing reports with general target, medical support manager double job resulted in no feedback to Pharmacy Unit, and so it has not supported the implementation of MSS. The Improvement of performancehas not been implementedand has notfound the concept of improvement. The new management will attempt to conduct a comparative study, including pharmacy installation into the Quality Control Group (GKM) or Problem Solving for Better Health (PSBH), find the cause of the problem and develop the policy. It can be concluded that the quality control of the MSS in the Pharmacy Unit still not going well and need to be improved especially related to quality performance appraisal and performance improvement based on the SOP.


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