Int J Pharm Pract 2002:3:23-30
Faculty of Pharmacy,
University of Sydney,
Australia
T. Sigrist, PharmD,
diploma student,
S. I. Benrimoj, PhD, dean and professor of pharmacy practice
J. Langford, PhD
lecturer
Department of Pharmacy,
University of Basel,
Switzerland
K. Hersberger, PhD, lecturer
Correspondence:
Ms Sigrist, HUG, Pharmacie, Dept APSIC, Bat Opera, Micheli-du-Crest 24, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland
Original Papers
Changing pharmacists' and pharmacist assistants' practice in dealing with direct requests for non-prescription analgesics
T. SIGRIST, S. I. BENRIMOJ, K. HERSBERGER and J. LANGFORD
Objective — To design, implement and evaluate an intervention to improve pharmacists' and pharmacist assistants' practice in dealing with non-prescription analgesicsMethod — Direct request situations, rather than symptom presentation situations, were targeted. A sample of 27 pharmacies (14 intervention, 13 control) was recruited in the French speaking Canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Intervention pharmacies participated in a training programme developed at the University of Sydney based on psycho-social and behavioural conceptual frameworks and communication skills. A pseudo-patient technique was used to assess the effect of training on the frequency and quality of pharmacists' and pharmacist assistants' verbal interaction with their patients. The pseudo-patient visits were followed-up by the provision of immediate feedback to the intervention group, a form of on-going training. A scoring system was developed for the consultation with the pseudo-patient and 189 interactions were audio-taped and analysed. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare the mean total scores obtained in the intervention and the control groups, at each time point (seven pseudo-patient visits in each pharmacy). The study period was two months
Key findings — There were significant differences (P<0.05) between the scores obtained in the intervention and control groups. Pharmacists' and pharmacist assistants' practice changed pre- and post-intervention. Interactions involving C-list (pharmacy only) medicines showed a greater change than those involving D-list (not restricted to pharmacies) medicines
Conclusion — The results indicate that the training programme and the pseudo-patient methodology facilitated a more comprehensive questioning process and increased the provision of personalised advice to individual patients