Dataset Information

Pharmacists working in residential aged care: a survey of pharmacist interest and perceived preparedness.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Pharmacists involvement in residential aged care facilities has traditionally been limited to that of an external contractor providing medication reviews, or medication supply.

Aim

To explore Australian pharmacists' interest and perceived preparedness to work as on-site pharmacists in residential aged care.

Method

National cross-sectional anonymous online survey open for two weeks (September 17th to October 1st 2022) consisting of Likert-type, multiple choice and multiple selection questions. Australian pharmacists were recruited using a broad advertising strategy which included social and traditional media platforms, and snowball sampling. Data were collected on pharmacist self-reported interest and perceived preparedness to work as on-site aged care pharmacists in residential aged care. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics.

Results

Responses were received from 720 participants, 643 were eligible. Most participants were female (n = 466, 73%) and mean (SD) age was 43.5 (SD 12.5) years. Over half the participants were interested or extremely interested in working as an on-site aged care pharmacist (56%, n = 360), and agreed or strongly agreed (n = 475, 76%) that they felt prepared to work as an on-site aged care pharmacist. Most pharmacists felt prepared to engage in a variety of roles within the facilities (> 73% for each role), including resident and system level roles, and the majority agreed they felt prepared to engage with stakeholders, including general practitioners (93%) and medical specialists (86%).

Conclusion

Pharmacists reported they are interested and feel prepared to work as on-site aged care pharmacists. These findings will inform the roll-out of this new model of care to enhance multidisciplinary collaboration in residential aged care.

SUBMITTER: Cross AJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10960889 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Pharmacists working in residential aged care: a survey of pharmacist interest and perceived preparedness.

Cross Amanda J AJ Hawthorne Deborah D Kouladjian O'Donnell Lisa L Lee Kenneth K Page Amy Theresa AT

International journal of clinical pharmacy 20240205 2

<h4>Background</h4>Pharmacists involvement in residential aged care facilities has traditionally been limited to that of an external contractor providing medication reviews, or medication supply.<h4>Aim</h4>To explore Australian pharmacists' interest and perceived preparedness to work as on-site pharmacists in residential aged care.<h4>Method</h4>National cross-sectional anonymous online survey open for two weeks (September 17th to October 1st 2022) consisting of Likert-type, multiple choice and ...[more]

PMID: 38315305

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Project description:BackgroundPharmacist prescribing legislation aims to enhance healthcare quality and accessibility. However, in many countries, like the Netherlands, it has not yet been legally established.AimTo investigate pharmacists' perspectives on potential pharmacist prescribing in the Netherlands.MethodAn online survey using a questionnaire that was distributed via e-mail and electronic newsletters to most practicing pharmacists in the Netherlands during October and November 2023. The questionnaire was based on previous literature, further developed during an international conference with pharmacists and piloted with Dutch pharmacists. Agreement with statements about potential prescribing models, settings, preconditions, and perceived benefits and risks was measured using a 4-point Likert scale. Data were analysed descriptively.ResultsIn total, 625 participants from community pharmacy (n = 432; 69.1%), hospital pharmacy (n = 149; 23.8%), or other/combined settings (n = 44; 7.0%) completed the questionnaire. Most pharmacists (somewhat) agreed with the introduction of an independent prescribing model with limitations (n = 538; 86.1%) or a model dependent on collaborative agreements with physicians (n = 471; 75.4%). A minority (n = 245; 39.2%) supported independent prescribing with diagnostic authority. The precondition that participants most frequently (somewhat) agreed with was access to health records (n = 607; 97.1%). The most (somewhat) agreed-upon benefits were enhanced professional position of pharmacists (n = 574; 91.8%) and reduced workload for other prescribers (n = 573; 91.7%). Increased workload for pharmacists (n = 495; 79.2%) was the most (somewhat) agreed-upon identified risk.ConclusionPharmacists in the Netherlands are generally supportive of an independent but limited or collaborative pharmacist prescribing model. These findings support further investigations into the potential introduction of pharmacist prescribing legislation.

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Dataset Information

Pharmacists working in residential aged care: a survey of pharmacist interest and perceived preparedness.

Background

Aim

Method

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Pharmacists working in residential aged care: a survey of pharmacist interest and perceived preparedness.

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