International Journal of Pharmacy Practice最新文献

Objective: To develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for extended community pharmacy services and assess the practicality and outcomes of implementation.

Methods: Phase I: Development of SOPs and checklists for extended services. Phase II: Assessment of face and content validity through expert panel review. Phase III: Usability testing over 300 hours in a community pharmacy in Malta, targeting up to 10 patients per service. The outcomes measured included time to provide service, clinical interventions, and implementation challenges.

Key findings: SOPs and checklists were developed for 12 extended services, classified into medicine use review (MUR), patient review (blood pressure measurement, weight management, urinalysis), and advice/treatment services (eye, ear, skin conditions, sore throat, urinary tract infection, smoking cessation, routine immunization, and international travel health). Expert validation showed high ratings for relevance, clarity, and presentation. During usability testing, 88 patients were recruited. The number of patients and mean time for service provision were as follows: MUR (n = 10, 14 minutes), patient review (n = 22, 21 minutes), and advice/treatment services (n = 56, 17 minutes). The clinical interventions included non-pharmacological advice (n = 88), referral to physician (n = 44), and dispensing non-prescription medicines (n = 42). Referrals were commonly due to side effects, drug interactions, abnormal urinalysis results, and uncontrolled blood pressure. The key challenges identified were limited access to electronic health records, time constraints, and lack of pharmacist prescribing authority.

Conclusions: The SOPs outline key components of best practice for delivering extended services in community pharmacy. Usability testing demonstrated that implementation of the SOPs and checklists was practical and led to valuable clinical interventions. The study proposes a transferable model for extended community pharmacy services within collaborative healthcare systems.

Objectives: The study investigated the knowledge and awareness of anti-doping regulations among community pharmacists in Norway.

Methods: The research employed a simulated patient methodology, involving 296 pharmacists, to assess their ability to identify prohibited substances and provide appropriate anti-doping advice.

Key findings: The findings reveal that 46.6% of pharmacists could identify salbutamol as a prohibited substance, with only 23.3% providing comprehensive anti-doping guidance. The study highlights a significant knowledge gap, emphasizing the need for enhanced educational programs to equip pharmacists with the necessary skills to offer effective anti-doping advice.

Conclusions: The results underscore the critical role of community pharmacists in promoting a vigilant healthcare environment against doping in sports.

Objectives: This study aimed to address the current evidence gap on understanding the Australian pharmacists' readiness and perceptions about the provision of antibiotics for uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI) management in the community setting.

Methods: A self-administered online survey tool was used to collect data from Australian pharmacists. Pharmacists were recruited via email and by advertising the study on social media platforms. The survey included questions on demographics, perceived benefits, willingness, competence, training adequacy, barriers, and enablers to providing UTI services. Data were analysed using descriptive, comparative and correlational statistical methods, and thematic analysis for qualitative responses.

Key findings: A total of 144 community pharmacists completed the survey. Pharmacists providing UTI services reported higher confidence in prescribing antibiotics (P < .001), collecting patient histories (P < .001), and differentiating between complicated and uncomplicated UTIs compared with non-providers (P < .001). The relationship between pharmacists' status in providing UTI services, and their overall confidence was mediated by their perceptions of being well-trained and competent. Key enablers included adequate training and resources, while major barriers included workload management and insufficient remuneration.

Conclusions: Confidence in providing UTI services is significantly influenced by training and education. Pharmacists are willing to offer these services to enhance patient care, but additional support such as training, mentoring, appropriate resources, adequate staffing, and remuneration is essential. Addressing these barriers will be crucial for the sustainable implementation of UTI management services in community pharmacies. Future research should focus on strategies to support pharmacists in these expanded roles, and further validate these findings to enhance UTI management in community settings.

Introduction: Mental health (MH) conditions place a significant disease burden on the UK. Pharmacists are healthcare professionals and may contribute to addressing this burden; however, the evidence regarding their specific role in MH care in the UK is sparse.

Objective: The objective of this review was to assess the evidence regarding pharmacists' roles in managing common MH conditions within UK primary and secondary care settings.

Methods: A scoping review was conducted following the Arksey and O'Malley framework and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and the Web of Science (Core collection) databases for English-language studies published between 2004 and 2024 were accessed. Eligible studies were UK-based and reported pharmacists' involvement in MH care. Data were charted and synthesized into descriptive themes.

Key findings: Fourteen studies highlighted pharmacists' multifaceted roles in MH care across primary and secondary care settings. Key domains included prescribing and deprescribing, medicines management, patient education, team collaboration, and specialized services such as assessments, referrals, and social prescribing. Pharmacist involvement improved medication optimization, patient understanding, and interdisciplinary communication, though gaps in MH training and role standardization were noted.

Conclusion: Pharmacists play diverse roles in supporting MH services through medicines optimization, prescribing support, and multidisciplinary collaboration, and have positive impacts on adherence and medicines management, but limited evidence on effectiveness. Strengthening pharmacist integration, workforce training, and evaluation of scalable interventions is essential to enhance their contribution to MH care in the UK.

Pharmacy education, training, and practice across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region has undergone significant transformation in recent decades, shaped by evolving healthcare priorities, national development agendas, and increasing demands for a skilled pharmacy workforce. This commentary provides an in-depth overview of pharmacy education pathways, postgraduate training opportunities, workforce trends, and practice models across GCC countries, with a particular focus on Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman. While undergraduate pharmacy education has rapidly expanded, with many institutions transitioning to entry-to-practice Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) programs, the region continues to face challenges in developing practice-ready pharmacists capable of managing the complexities of an ever-evolving healthcare system. Postgraduate training options, including residencies, fellowships, and research-based degrees, remain unevenly distributed. Clinical pharmacy practice in hospitals is well-established, whereas community pharmacy services are still limited in scope, often restricted to dispensing and minor ailment management. Research engagement is increasing, particularly in academic and hospital settings, but remains constrained by administrative barriers and the absence of a clear career pathway in pharmacy research.

Background: Medication wastage is a global concern that is associated with significant impact. As drug experts, pharmacists' opinions and practices are essential in finding strategies to control waste. Re-dispensing the unused medicines stored at home may be a possible solution that needs to be examined.

Objective: To characterize Jordanian pharmacists' perspectives on the causes of medication waste, describe current waste-reduction activities, and assess the feasibility, barriers, and pharmacists' readiness and willingness toward implementing medication re-dispensing.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among pharmacists working in Jordan using a pre-validated online questionnaire.

Results: This study recruited 138 pharmacists. Key factors identified as contributing to medication waste included non-adherence (75.4%), patients lack of awareness (60.9%), self-medication (53.6%), polypharmacy (51.4%), and misuse of health insurance (50.7%).While pharmacists reported engaging in activities such as the ability to split packages (73.2%), managing pharmacy stocks (65.2%), and conducting medication reviews (61.6%), many of these activities were limited in actual implementation. More than half of participants (54.3%) believed that implementing a re-dispensing approach in Jordan would be practical, and 69.6% expressed willingness to provide a service for collecting unused medicines in their pharmacies. However, the most significant barrier identified was the lack of clear regulations (76.8%).

Conclusion: Pharmacists can play a vital role in reducing medication waste by managing unused drugs and leading educational initiatives on proper medication use and disposal. However, the findings indicate that current efforts by Jordanian pharmacists to minimize medicine waste remain suboptimal. The concept of re-dispensing warrants further evaluation from additional perspectives.

Background: Pharmacy education in Jordan has expanded in response to national growth and increasing healthcare needs. As an upper-middle-income country, Jordan depends on pharmacy programs to supply a workforce for community, clinical, academic, industrial, and regulatory sectors.

Objective: To review the current setting of pharmacy education and practice in Jordan, including training paths, accreditation, licensure, and career opportunities.

Methods: A narrative review of national regulations, institutional documents, literature, and professional reports was conducted.

Results: Jordan hosts 18 pharmacy faculties offering BPharm degrees, with two also providing PharmD programs. Admission is centrally regulated, and training includes extensive coursework and required practice experience. Postgraduate opportunities include MSc and PhD programs, and CPD. Accreditation and licensure involve national regulatory bodies. Graduates work across community, hospital, academic, industry, and regulatory settings, though challenges include limited clinical positions, misalignment between curricula and labor-market needs, and insufficient support for advanced services. Research activity is increasing, served by curricular reforms and funding.

Conclusions: Pharmacy education in Jordan is expanding, but strengthening clinical training, specialization, research capacity, and workforce planning remains essential.

Objectives: Community pharmacists are expanding their practice to provide more consumer-focused professional services to support rising healthcare demands. Despite strong evidence supporting the benefits of pharmacist-led services, their uptake remains inconsistent. This review examines the factors that affect the implementation of community pharmacist-led professional services.

Methods: A scoping review of studies published between 2005 and 2024 was conducted using the PRISMA guidelines. Inclusion criteria focused on studies assessing stakeholder experiences of implemented services. Study quality was assessed using the Mixed-Method Appraisal Tool (MMAT). Thematic synthesis was applied to extract and categorize key findings.

Key findings: Thirty-six studies were included in the final analysis. Fifteen were based in European countries, 12 in Oceanic regions, and eight in North America. Time constraints, workload pressures, general practitioner resistance, limited consumer awareness, and remuneration concerns hindered implementation. Facilitators included clear role definitions, motivated staff, structured service delivery models, enhanced collaboration with healthcare professionals, and financial incentives.

Conclusions: Community pharmacists have the potential to provide expanded professional services and practise to their full scope to enhance healthcare accessibility and patient outcomes. Multilevel approaches that address logistic, collaborative, systematic, and financial challenges are needed. Future research should focus on large-scale evaluations and long-term impacts to build a stronger evidence base for pharmacist-led professional services.

Objective: Consultant pharmacists in the United Kingdom are appointed to lead across four pillars of advanced practice: clinical expertise, leadership, education, and research. Despite research being an expectation of the role, limited evidence exists on the nature and extent of research engagement in this group. We aimed to explore the research activity, readiness, and associated challenges and enablers experienced by consultant pharmacists in North England.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 consultant pharmacists across primary and secondary care settings. Participants were recruited through professional networks and snowball sampling. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using template analysis. A hierarchical coding template was iteratively developed and applied to identify key themes.

Key findings: Five themes were identified: (1) Research skillset, (2) Job planning and time allocation, (3) Intrinsic motivation and resilience, (4) Structural barriers and enablers, and (5) Reach and influence. While participants demonstrated strong internal motivation to engage in research, many cited limited protected time, complex governance structures, and a lack of pharmacy-specific mentorship as barriers. Research activity was often deprioritized for clinical responsibilities. Participants frequently worked outside contracted hours to pursue research and often sought mentorship from other professions. Nonetheless, consultant pharmacists were seen to champion research culture, mentor junior staff, and influence practice through local and national dissemination of research.

Conclusions: Consultant pharmacists are well positioned to advance applied research in pharmacy, but current systemic and cultural barriers must be addressed to fully realize their potential. Structured support, research training, clearer frameworks, and protected time are essential to sustain research engagement.