Our findings highlight a combination of misperceptions about influenza vaccination and cognitive biases at the individual level, and challenges at the institutional level limiting uptake. Findings indicate an urgent need to provide targeted education and communication. Rather than providing more data, we recommend a widely-disseminated, locally-compiled synthesis addressing specific concerns of hesitant HCWs. Tailoring interventions to specific vocational groups should be considered. Institutional norms and culture may have a powerful influence in setting default behaviours: more effort is needed in improving influenza vaccine promotion and priority at some institutions, integrating vaccine-related communication with other infection control communication and addressing influenza vaccine hesitancy among doctors as a priority. Finally, further study of strategies to address cognitive biases affecting influenza vaccine acceptance in Singapore is desirable.
Despite the role of the pharmacist in the delivery of community health care, anthropological research placing them at the center of enquiry has been limited. In this article, I explore the experience of independent community pharmacists in hyperdiverse, urban communities. Research was conducted in East and South-East London, combining participant observation within pharmacies and active interviews with pharmacists. Pharmacists' narratives highlighted a sense of closeness to the lifeworld concerns of customers. They identified their ability to use cultural capital to build relationships through the delivery of successful cross-cultural care and by acting as brokers or patrons within co-ethnic social networks. Pharmacists position themselves as communication 'experts,' employ multilingual staff, and stock less commonly available products to provide a 'specialist' service for customers in hyperdiverse communities. I suggest that the pharmacy is a neglected space, and demonstrate how the autonomy afforded by independent practice provides a flexible and inclusive approach.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.