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The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. Pharmacists as health workers also play an important role in this pandemic. This study aims to dig deeper into how pharmacists perceive their role and pharmaceutical services during this pandemic through a qualitative study with Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Fifteen pharmacists from The Riau Islands Province were involved in the study based on a purposive sampling technique. They were purposively selected to include a wide range of pharmacists from the community pharmacies, hospitals, and community health centers. The FGDs were conducted via recorded Zoom meetings. The collected data were then transcribed and analyzed with inductive content analysis. This study found five themes with 18 sub-themes. The five themes were the roles and efforts of pharmacists in managing medicines, medical devices, and disposable medical materials (personal protective equipment);the roles of pharmacists in providing pharmaceutical care;community behaviors during the pandemic;development of pharmacists' roles and capacity during the pandemic;and external factors influencing the roles and practice of pharmacists during the pandemic. During the pandemic, pharmacists continued to work according to their previous roles and adjusted their roles and practice in pharmaceutical services to follow changes in community behaviors. This condition also encouraged pharmacists to develop their roles and capacities. The healthcare management team, the government, and the professional organizations influenced their roles, both positively and negatively. The results of this study provide a deeper understanding of pharmacist roles and practices during the pandemic. This understanding will be useful for the pharmacist in developing their potential and capability to be involved as healthcare professionals, specifically during the pandemic situation and generally in disaster management.Copyright © 2022 by Indonesian Journal of Pharmacy (IJP).
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Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy due to the disinformation related to Covid-19 infection and vaccination remains a major problem to deal with during this pandemic in Indonesia. This study aims to examine the factors associated with Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy and identify the Covid-19 vaccine acceptance rate among the urban community in Indonesia. A cross-sectional survey using a developed questionnaire based on the scientific literature was conducted online from March to May 2021 among the urban community in Semarang, Yogyakarta, and Surabaya cities. A total of 1200 individuals older than 18 years old were selected to participate by convenience sampling technique. The questionnaire is divided into three parts to assess the characteristics of respondents, their perception of Covid-19 and vaccination, and their opinion towards Covid-19 disinformation. Data were analyzed descriptively and the association between participant's characteristics and willingness to Covid-19 vaccination was investigated using logistic regression. The acceptance rate of Covid-19 vaccination among participants was high (92.50%) and most of the participants believed that Covid-19 vaccines are effective (76.75%). The majority of participants also disagreed and did not believe Covid-19 disinformation (85.25%). We found the association between the willingness to be vaccinated with several factors, such as age, education, monthly income, working status, presence of comorbidities, living with elderly status, perceived risk to get Covid-19 infection, beliefs on the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccine, and perception related to disinformation. A multidimensional approach is needed to increase the Covid-19 vaccine acceptance and reduce public hesitancy towards the vaccine. Trustworthy information and evidence from the government are important to build public trust and overcome this pandemic situation. © 2022 Journal of medical pharmaceutical and allied sciencesｔ. All rights reserved.
RESUMEN
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. Pharmacists as health workers also play an important role in this pandemic. This study aims to dig deeper into how pharmacists perceive their role and pharmaceutical services during this pandemic through a qualitative study with Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Fifteen pharmacists from The Riau Islands Province were involved in the study based on a purposive sampling technique. They were purposively selected to include a wide range of pharmacists from the community pharmacies, hospitals, and community health centers. The FGDs were conducted via recorded Zoom meetings. The collected data were then transcribed and analyzed with inductive content analysis. This study found five themes with 18 sub-themes. The five themes were the roles and efforts of pharmacists in managing medicines, medical devices, and disposable medical materials (personal protective equipment);the roles of pharmacists in providing pharmaceutical care;community behaviors during the pandemic;development of pharmacists' roles and capacity during the pandemic;and external factors influencing the roles and practice of pharmacists during the pandemic. During the pandemic, pharmacists continued to work according to their previous roles and adjusted their roles and practice in pharmaceutical services to follow changes in community behaviors. This condition also encouraged pharmacists to develop their roles and capacities. The healthcare management team, the government, and the professional organizations influenced their roles, both positively and negatively. The results of this study provide a deeper understanding of pharmacist roles and practices during the pandemic. This understanding will be useful for the pharmacist in developing their potential and capability to be involved as healthcare professionals, specifically during the pandemic situation and generally in disaster management.
RESUMEN
The global focus for reducing cases during this pandemic is COVID-19 vaccination. The purpose of this study is to investigate community pharmacists’ perceptions and identify factors that influence their willingness to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. A self-administered online survey based cross-sectional study was conducted in Yogyakarta Province. The questions were created using existing questionnaire from the literature, then validated and pilot tested on a group of pharmacists. This study included pharmacists from community pharmacies. Descriptive and logistic regression analysis were used. An online survey was completed by 120 pharmacists from community pharmacies, including 58 chief pharmacists and 62 companion pharmacists. Most participants agreed on several points concerning the role, benefits, enablement, and barriers of pharmacists providing vaccinations. Our study also discovered that the willingness of community pharmacists to administer COVID-19 vaccine was significantly related to age (under 40 years old), working experience (under 10 years), pharmacy location (urban area), distance from health facilities (under 5 kilometers), and availability of service for universal health coverage (UHC) patients. The majority of community pharmacists had positive attitudes about providing COVID-19 vaccines. It is hoped that the new role of community pharmacists as vaccinators will help to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination coverage in Indonesia. © 2022. by Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Thailand is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https:// www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
RESUMEN
Background: The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic requires each individual to increase public awareness and protection in order to avoid the risk of infection. The objective of this study was to assess the awareness and protection practices of COVID-19 in Indonesia. Methods: A cross-sectional survey study was administered during April 2020. About 640 Indonesian were participated in this study. A validated questionnaire consisted of demographic and protection practices during pandemic was being administered. Association between practices on protection method and respondent’ characteristics was analyzed using Chi square test. Results: Approximately 55.63% of the respondents were aware to staying at home to prevent COVID-19. There was still a lack of awareness among respondents about protection practices, with only two-thirds doing hand hygiene with soap and wearing masks. Nearly 80.94% of respondents used food supplements while their families had mild symptoms such as coughing for 3 days. A strong correlation between residency, current working status, living with elderly people, and having medical illnesses with effective safety measures and positive intervention for mild symptoms (OR >1;p<0.05). Conclusion: Government initiatives are required to provide information and guidance to the public in order to comply with the recommendations for preventive action to reduce COVID-19 transmission.
RESUMEN
Background: Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) was identified in China on December 2019 and became a global pandemic on March 2020. Pharmacist has a big role and responsibilities to fight the pandemic. This objective of the study was to explore the role and responsibilities of a pharmacist during the pandemic in Indonesia. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey on perception of and roles by a pharmacist to the Covid19-pandemic was conducted during the COVID-19 outbreak from 1 to 30 April 2020. The questionnaire contained pharmacist profiles, 15 questions of leadership, staff, patient care, infection prevention, and drug supply management domain. The instrument based on COVID-19 safety advice from the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) for pharmacists. Data was reported descriptively. Results: Between 320 pharmacists, most of them had 1-5 years of work experience (65.63%) and 37.81% attended at least three workshops on coronavirus topics. The information source most commonly used by pharmacists was social media (72.19%). Pharmacists were mostly effective at handling patient care and medication supply. The perception of pharmacist was more significant among males, hospital pharmacists, and pharmacists who have served for 5 years or more. The functions of a pharmacist in doing patient care and supporting infection prevention was more significant to male pharmacists, pharmacists employed in hospitals, pharmacists employed for 5 years or more, and pharmacists attending 3 or more coronavirus workshops. Finally, the understanding of a pharmacist's role in managing drug supply was higher to the community of pharmacists aged 35-55, pharmacists working in hospitals, and pharmacists who have worked for 5 years or more. Conclusion: Pharmacists as a healthcare team can play many critical role to help the world fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Pharmacist have a good perception to be adaptable with their role and new responsibilities during COVID-19 pandemic.