An exploration of consultation skills in community pharmacists

Abstract An exploration of consultation skills in community pharmacists By: Ahmed Al-Nagar Keywords Community pharmacy, consultation skills, pharmacist consultations, pharmacist consultation skills, training of pharmacist Background The role of the community pharmacist has evolved from compounding and dispensing to providing patient focused services which require more patient interaction. Previous research has described pharmacist consultation skills as not optimal or patient centred. The aim of the thesis was to add an in depth understanding about the possible reasons behind this. Method The thesis comprises three studies; the first study used focus groups to investigate community pharmacists’ experiences and perceptions of their consultations with patients. The second study was the first nationwide questionnaire based study to investigate consultation skills training received by community pharmacists. The final study was a feasibility study to investigate the use of an innovative interactional-analysis methodology known as the Roter Interactional Analysis to audio recorded community pharmacy consultations. Results The results showed while community pharmacists enjoy speaking to patients, a number of factors limit the quality of these interactions. The nationwide questionnaire results indicates that a large number of community pharmacists have not had any formal consultation skills training and seek more advanced consultation skills training. Analysis showed consultation skills training could influence confidence and had a positive impact on the delivery of more patient facing services. The use of an interactional analysis system is a useful tool to develop future consultation skills training in community pharmacy. Conclusion The thesis has provided a more in depth understanding of the consultation based challenges facing community pharmacists, community pharmacy as a profession and researchers investigating pharmacist-patient interaction. It has also identified many areas which require further development if community pharmacists are going to undertake high quality consultations. It will be important for these to be fully considered if any future proposed changes to community pharmacy roles are to be successful.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of East Anglia

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Al-Nagar, Ahmed

Language dc:language

en