A pharmacy diabetes service model resulted in significant improvements in clinical and humanistic outcomes. Thus, community pharmacists can contribute significantly to improving care and health outcomes for patients with Type 2 diabetes. Future research should focus on clarifying the most effective elements of the service model.

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Australian community pharmacies offer a range of professional pharmacy services (PPS) which include Home Medicines Review (HMR) and the Diabetes Medication Assistance Service (DMAS). The extent of interaction and collaboration between general practitioners (GPs) and pharmacists in the context of these services is unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate (1) the nature and extent of interactions between GPs and community pharmacists and; (2) the factors that influence these interactions in the context of PPS. Individual semi-structured face-to-face and telephone interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 15 GPs and 15 pharmacists in rural and metropolitan areas of New South Wales, Australia. The results indicated that involvement in PPS resulted in a perceived increase in the level of interactions between the pharmacist and GP. Factors found which may influence collaborative behaviour in PPS include interactional, practitioner and environmental determinants. These factors are in line with what has previously been reported however, facilitators of collaboration in the primary care, PPS context included additional environmental factors such as the presence of rules and protocols, interprofessional continuing education and the availability of adequate remuneration. Attention to these environmental factors as well as the more established interactional and practitioner determinants will improve collaboration in PPS.

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Objective To identify the factors influencing Australian community pharmacists' willingness to participate in research projects and their attitudes towards research. Method A mixed‐method survey instrument comprising demographics, previous participation in research, and perceptions about participation in research was mailed to 267 community pharmacists in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. An analysis of variance test was used to identify similarities and differences between research‐ and non‐research‐active respondents. Bivariate correlations and partial least squares (PLS) regression analyses were used to identify barriers and facilitators to research participation. Key findings The overall response rate to the survey was 40%. Of these, 70% were classified as previous research participants (PRP), and 30% were classified as non‐previous research participants (NPRP). Both groups had mostly favourable attitudes towards research; however, the results revealed several differences between the PRP and NPRP groups. Three items were identified as key facilitators to participation in research for both PRP and NPRP groups ‐ having an interest in the research topic; believing that the research will benefit the customer; and a belief that community pharmacy research is important. Lack of time, either real or perceived, was identified as a key barrier to participation in research for both the PRP and NPRP groups. Conclusion Researchers should take into account pharmacists' previous research experience when recruiting pharmacists into research projects. In the case of pharmacists with research experience, emphasis should be on promoting factors that facilitate participation. In the case of pharmacists with little research experience, emphasis should be on reducing barriers to participation.

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Given appropriate training in diabetes care and behavior change strategies, community pharmacists can offer programs which provide self-management support to their patients with T2DM and improve their health outcomes.

BackgroundCommunity 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 interprofessional collaboration. This study aims to develop and validate 1) an instrument to measure pharmacist attitudes towards collaboration with GPs and 2) a model that illustrates how pharmacist attitudes (and other variables) influence collaborative behaviour with GPs.MethodsA questionnaire containing the newly developed “Attitudes Towards Collaboration Instrument for Pharmacists” (ATCI-P) and a previously validated behavioural measure “Frequency of Interprofessional Collaboration Instrument for Pharmacists” (FICI-P) was administered to a sample of 1215 Australian pharmacists. The ATCI-P was developed based on existing literature and qualitative interviews with GPs and community pharmacists. Principal Component Analysis was used to assess the structure of the ATCI-P and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to assess the internal consistency of the instrument. Structural equation modelling was used to determine how pharmacist attitudes (as measured by the ATCI-P) and other variables, influence collaborative behaviour (as measured by the FICI-P).ResultsFour hundred and ninety-two surveys were completed and returned for a response rate of 40%. Principal Component Analysis revealed the ATCI-P consisted of two factors: ‘interactional determinants’ and ‘practitioner determinants’, both with good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = .90 and .93 respectively). The model demonstrated adequate fit (χ2/df = 1.89, CFI = .955, RMSEA = .062, 90% CI [.049-.074]) and illustrated that ‘interactional determinants’ was the strongest predictor of collaboration and was in turn influenced by ‘practitioner determinants’. The extent of the pharmacist’s contact with physicians during their pre-registration training was also found to be a significant predictor of collaboration (B = .23, SE = .43, p <.001).ConclusionsThe results of the study provide evidence for the validity of the ATCI-P in measuring pharmacist attitudes towards collaboration with GPs and support a model of collaboration, from the pharmacist’s perspective, in which collaborative behaviour is influenced directly by ‘interactional’ and ‘environmental determinants’, and indirectly by ‘practitioner determinants’.