Ideal and actual involvement of community pharmacists in health promotion and prevention: a cross-sectional study in Quebec, Canada
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An increased interest is observed in broadening community pharmacists' role in public health. To date, little information has been gathered in Canada on community pharmacists' perceptions of their role in health promotion a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2012-03-01
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| Series: | BMC Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/12/192 |
| _version_ | 1811304283514077184 |
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| author | Laliberté Marie-Claude Perreault Sylvie Damestoy Nicole Lalonde Lyne |
| author_facet | Laliberté Marie-Claude Perreault Sylvie Damestoy Nicole Lalonde Lyne |
| author_sort | Laliberté Marie-Claude |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An increased interest is observed in broadening community pharmacists' role in public health. To date, little information has been gathered in Canada on community pharmacists' perceptions of their role in health promotion and prevention; however, such data are essential to the development of public-health programs in community pharmacy. A cross-sectional study was therefore conducted to explore the perceptions of community pharmacists in urban and semi-urban areas regarding their ideal and actual levels of involvement in providing health-promotion and prevention services and the barriers to such involvement.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using a five-step modified Dillman's tailored design method, a questionnaire with 28 multiple-choice or open-ended questions (11 pages plus a cover letter) was mailed to a random sample of 1,250 pharmacists out of 1,887 community pharmacists practicing in Montreal (Quebec, Canada) and surrounding areas. It included questions on pharmacists' ideal level of involvement in providing health-promotion and preventive services; which services were actually offered in their pharmacy, the employees involved, the frequency, and duration of the services; the barriers to the provision of these services in community pharmacy; their opinion regarding the most appropriate health professionals to provide them; and the characteristics of pharmacists, pharmacies and their clientele.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In all, 571 out of 1,234 (46.3%) eligible community pharmacists completed and returned the questionnaire. Most believed they should be very involved in health promotion and prevention, particularly in smoking cessation (84.3%); screening for hypertension (81.8%), diabetes (76.0%) and dyslipidemia (56.9%); and sexual health (61.7% to 89.1%); however, fewer respondents reported actually being very involved in providing such services (5.7% [lifestyle, including smoking cessation], 44.5%, 34.8%, 6.5% and 19.3%, respectively). The main barriers to the provision of these services in current practice were lack of: time (86.1%), coordination with other health care professionals (61.1%), staff or resources (57.2%), financial compensation (50.8%), and clinical tools (45.5%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although community pharmacists think they should play a significant role in health promotion and prevention, they recognize a wide gap between their ideal and actual levels of involvement. The efficient integration of primary-care pharmacists and pharmacies into public health cannot be envisioned without addressing important organizational barriers.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T08:04:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-32366604ded9404f8125f627d4de92ac |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T08:04:35Z |
| publishDate | 2012-03-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
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| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-32366604ded9404f8125f627d4de92ac2022-12-22T02:55:12ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582012-03-0112119210.1186/1471-2458-12-192Ideal and actual involvement of community pharmacists in health promotion and prevention: a cross-sectional study in Quebec, CanadaLaliberté Marie-ClaudePerreault SylvieDamestoy NicoleLalonde Lyne<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An increased interest is observed in broadening community pharmacists' role in public health. To date, little information has been gathered in Canada on community pharmacists' perceptions of their role in health promotion and prevention; however, such data are essential to the development of public-health programs in community pharmacy. A cross-sectional study was therefore conducted to explore the perceptions of community pharmacists in urban and semi-urban areas regarding their ideal and actual levels of involvement in providing health-promotion and prevention services and the barriers to such involvement.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using a five-step modified Dillman's tailored design method, a questionnaire with 28 multiple-choice or open-ended questions (11 pages plus a cover letter) was mailed to a random sample of 1,250 pharmacists out of 1,887 community pharmacists practicing in Montreal (Quebec, Canada) and surrounding areas. It included questions on pharmacists' ideal level of involvement in providing health-promotion and preventive services; which services were actually offered in their pharmacy, the employees involved, the frequency, and duration of the services; the barriers to the provision of these services in community pharmacy; their opinion regarding the most appropriate health professionals to provide them; and the characteristics of pharmacists, pharmacies and their clientele.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In all, 571 out of 1,234 (46.3%) eligible community pharmacists completed and returned the questionnaire. Most believed they should be very involved in health promotion and prevention, particularly in smoking cessation (84.3%); screening for hypertension (81.8%), diabetes (76.0%) and dyslipidemia (56.9%); and sexual health (61.7% to 89.1%); however, fewer respondents reported actually being very involved in providing such services (5.7% [lifestyle, including smoking cessation], 44.5%, 34.8%, 6.5% and 19.3%, respectively). The main barriers to the provision of these services in current practice were lack of: time (86.1%), coordination with other health care professionals (61.1%), staff or resources (57.2%), financial compensation (50.8%), and clinical tools (45.5%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although community pharmacists think they should play a significant role in health promotion and prevention, they recognize a wide gap between their ideal and actual levels of involvement. The efficient integration of primary-care pharmacists and pharmacies into public health cannot be envisioned without addressing important organizational barriers.</p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/12/192Community pharmacistsCross-sectional studyHealth promotionPreventionPublic health |
| spellingShingle | Laliberté Marie-Claude Perreault Sylvie Damestoy Nicole Lalonde Lyne Ideal and actual involvement of community pharmacists in health promotion and prevention: a cross-sectional study in Quebec, Canada BMC Public Health Community pharmacists Cross-sectional study Health promotion Prevention Public health |
| title | Ideal and actual involvement of community pharmacists in health promotion and prevention: a cross-sectional study in Quebec, Canada |
| title_full | Ideal and actual involvement of community pharmacists in health promotion and prevention: a cross-sectional study in Quebec, Canada |
| title_fullStr | Ideal and actual involvement of community pharmacists in health promotion and prevention: a cross-sectional study in Quebec, Canada |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ideal and actual involvement of community pharmacists in health promotion and prevention: a cross-sectional study in Quebec, Canada |
| title_short | Ideal and actual involvement of community pharmacists in health promotion and prevention: a cross-sectional study in Quebec, Canada |
| title_sort | ideal and actual involvement of community pharmacists in health promotion and prevention a cross sectional study in quebec canada |
| topic | Community pharmacists Cross-sectional study Health promotion Prevention Public health |
| url | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/12/192 |
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