Community pharmacy practice related to the COVID-19 pandemic: barriers and facilitators.
Int J Pharm Pract
; 30(3): 226-234, 2022 Jun 25.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1769291
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Community pharmacies provide an important healthcare service. Their significant value has been further highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.OBJECTIVES:
To identify and categorize potential barriers and facilitators to the role of community pharmacists during the pandemic and their association with demographic factors.METHODS:
A cross-sectional survey of community pharmacists was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire during April 2020 across all regions of Egypt. KEYFINDINGS:
Respondents (n = 1018; 98.4% response rate) revealed practical and psychological barriers, including inadequate levels of pandemic preparedness (mean 61.43%; ±SD 0.47), inadequate working environments (mean 56.23%; ±SD 0.49) and uncooperative behaviour from stakeholders (mean 65.3%; ±SD 0.47).The majority of respondents emphasized the universal, region-independent necessity for facilitators, including the availability of timely (94.9%) guidance (97.4%) published by the Egyptian healthcare authority (94.6%), in electronic format (82.1%), through smartphone application (80.0%) and the provision of a dedicated telephone hotline (89.5%). Furthermore, authorities must use the media to manage public perceptions (97.2%) and increase public trust (94.8%) towards the pharmacist.CONCLUSIONS:
The barriers and facilitators identified herein could improve service provision in an integrated manner by overcoming the reported inadequate level of preparedness (barrier) through the provision of electronic guidance (facilitator), and the use of the media in managing public perceptions and trust (facilitators) to reduce the panic that negatively affects the working environment (barrier) for pharmacy staff. The varied level of healthcare authority cooperation reported in many regions requires further investigation.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pharmacies
/
Pharmacy
/
Community Pharmacy Services
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Int J Pharm Pract
Journal subject:
Pharmacy
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ijpp
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