PURPOSE medication problems are thought to cause between 10 and 30% of all hospital admissions in older people. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions led by hospital or community pharmacists in reducing unplanned hospital admissions for older people. METHODS eighteen databases were searched with a customised search strategy. Relevant websites and referenc...

OBJECTIVE To explore the potential for community pharmacist prescribing in terms of usefulness, pharmacists' confidence, and appropriateness, in the context of asthma management. METHODS Twenty community pharmacists were recruited using convenience sampling from a group of trained practitioners who had already delivered asthma services. These pharmacists were asked to complete a scenario-base...

OBJECTIVES To describe the knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of Quebec's pharmacists towards immunization and determine their perceived barriers to pharmacist-led immunization. METHODS The current study was a descriptive survey of pharmacists working in a community setting in Quebec. Pharmacists were randomly chosen from a list of Quebec's community pharmacies and were contacted by phone from ...

BACKGROUND The role of community pharmacists is very important due to their access to primary care patients and expertise. For this reason, the interaction level between pharmacists and patients should be optimized to ensure enhanced delivery of pharmacy services. OBJECTIVE To gauge perceptions and expectations of the public on the role of community pharmacists in Dubai, United Arab Emirates ...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of a structured community pharmacist-based smoking cessation programme compared with usual care. DESIGN A cost-effectiveness study using a healthcare system perspective Population: Two simulated cohorts of smokers: male and female aged 40, 50 and 60 years who regularly smoke 10-20 cigarettes per day. Intervention and comparator: A...

BACKGROUND Community Pharmacists and General Practitioners (GPs) are increasingly being encouraged to adopt more collaborative approaches to health care delivery as collaboration in primary care has been shown to be effective in improving patient outcomes. However, little is known about pharmacist attitudes towards collaborating with their GP counterparts and variables that influence this inter...

The pharmacist may play a relevant role in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases, mainly through patient education and counselling, drug safety management, medication review, monitoring and reconciliation, detection and control of specific cardiovascular risk factors (eg, blood pressure, blood glucose, serum lipids) and clinical outcomes. Systematic reviews of randomised c...

BACKGROUND Community pharmacies are ideally located as a source of support for people with chronic conditions. Yet, we have limited insight into what innovative pharmacy services would support this consumer group to manage their condition/s. The aim of this study was to identify what innovations people with chronic conditions and their carers want from their ideal community pharmacy, and compar...