Availability of and Attitudes Toward Resources on Alternative Medicine Products in the Community Pharmacy Setting

Community pharmacists in Australia: barriers to information provision on complementary and alternative medicines

“…This resonates with a recent survey of pharmacists in Australia in which 27% of pharmacists selling CAM stated that they did not have access to CAM information resources such as textbooks or journals at their place of work [11]. Moreover, recent US research indicated that many community pharmacists are not satisfied with CAM resources available to them and may not be aware of some of the higher quality resources [19].…”

Pharmacy students' experience and comfort with herb/dietary supplement (HDS) questions and information resources in the work setting

“…5 Pharmacists reported that in a 40-hour week, consumers asked them questions regarding herbs and natural products on an average seven times and other healthcare providers inquired about these products an average of 1.3 times per week. 6 Nathan et al 7 reported that almost 90% of community pharmacists (N ¼ 67) received one to five alternative medicine questions per day. Olatunde et al 8 conducted interviews with Canadian pharmacy and consumer leaders, CAM/conventional practitioners, as well as the industry stakeholders.…”

“…[9][10][11] Literature suggests varying degrees of familiarity, use, comfort level and access to HDS resources by pharmacists. 6,7,[9][10][11][12] In 2008, Zeolla et al 12 reported that less than 40% of experienced practicing pharmacists in both community and institutional settings (N ¼ 58) were familiar with four out of six references prior to a one-hour continuing education program discussing drug/HDS interactions. One year later, the change in their resource recognition was not significantly different.…”

“…One year later, the change in their resource recognition was not significantly different. Nathan et al 7 evaluated pharmacists' attitudes and availability of HDS resources in the community setting. When answering questions, 38% of respondents (N ¼ 64) used resources often, while almost half seldom used HDS references, and close to 40% were completely or somewhat dissatisfied with resources available to them at their practice site.…”

An Active-Learning Assignment Involving Peer-to-Peer Presentations to Improve Pharmacy Students’ Attitudes and Knowledge of Dietary Supplements

“…[6][7][8] In one study of US pharmacists, the majority agreed that additional training in dietary supplements was needed, as well as increased regulation of and quality of information on dietary supplements. 6 Both pharmacists and pharmacy students recognize the importance of their role in dietary supplement guidance and are advocates of including dietary supplement instruction in pharmacy curricula.…”