Perception Towards Health Promotion Activities: Findings From A Community Survey In The State Of Penang, Malaysia

The study aimed to explore the perceptions towards health promotion activities among population of Penang Island, Malaysia. The study was designed as a questionnaire based cross sectional analysis. General public from the district of Jelutong, located in the state of Penang, Malaysia was conveniently approached for the study. Descriptive statistics were used to ascertain demographic characteristics where as inferential statistics were employed to measure the extent of association among study variables. Out of 480 respondents, a response rate of 82.7% was achieved. The study cohort was dominated by females (63.0%) and majority of the participants belonged to Malay ethnicity (88.1%). One hundred and seventy two (43.3%) never attended a health promotional campaign and mentioned lack of time and transport as potential barriers. Among those who attended such activities, one third was satisfied with the benefits of health campaigns. Approximately 90% of the participants demanded accessible locations, common language as mode of communication and complete medical checkups with professional advice at health promotional campaigns. General public can encouraged to participate in the health promotion activities by considering their priorities before designing a health promotion program. This will help in targeting and achieving the goal “health for all”.

Proffesional training and roles of community pharmacists in Malaysia: views from general medical practitioners

Aim: This pilot study aimed to explore the perceptions of general medical practitioners (GPs) towards the professional training and roles of community pharmacists. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all private clinics (n=160) run by GPs in a northern state of Malaysia. The instrument contained questions to evaluate the practitioners’ level of agreement using a 5-point Likerttype scale. Results: Of 160 GPs, 80 returned the questionnaire (response rate 50%). The respondents agreed that: GPs should consider the community pharmacists’ recommendations whenever there is/are any problem(s) with the prescriptions given by them (46.3%); community pharmacists are the best healthcare professionals to educate patients about safe and appropriate use of medications (52.5%); the pharmacy profession had undergone a major metamorphosis from a product-oriented profession to a more patient-centred and outcome-oriented one (61.3%); if dispensing separation is implemented, they will work closely with the community pharmacists in monitoring patients’ pharmacotherapeutic outcomes (77.5%). Conclusion: The current findings suggest that GPs would support an extension of the role of the community pharmacists in number of activities of patient care activities such as medication counselling. Thus, suggesting potential collaborative care between GPs and community pharmacists towards patient care and the needs to develop and incorporate topics on inter-professional relationship in the current medical and pharmaceutical education curriculums.