Exploring the factors influencing the quality of “Health Support Pharmacy” services in Japan: Perspectives of community pharmacists

Sato, Noriko; Fujita, Kenji; Kushida, Kazuki; Chen, Timothy

doi:10.1016/j.sapharm.2020.02.012

Cited by 15 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…A health support pharmacy (HSP) is a specially registered community pharmacy within the Japanese health care system that fulfills the requirements of providing 24-hour consultation with a pharmacist and home care support to improve local residents’ quality of life [ 13 , 14 ]. A knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) survey is widely accepted means of assessing a person’s understanding of a given topic, their thinking in relation to that topic, and their associated skills [ 15 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding COVID-19 among pharmacists partnering with community residents: A national survey in Japan

et al. 2021

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Background Community pharmacists play an important role in reducing COVID-19-related secondary health problems. However, the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding COVID-19 among pharmacists in Japan have not yet been elucidated. Methods We conducted a web-based questionnaire survey among 1,137 pharmacists working in health support pharmacies (HSPs) in Japan. These pharmacists are responsible for providing health consultations to community residents. We assessed COVID-19-related KAP among pharmacists and compared the results for two age groups: ≤49 years and ≥50 years. We used multiple regression analysis to examine which factors influence KAP scores regarding COVID-19. Results From among the 2,141 HSPs in Japan, a total of 1,137 pharmacists, each representing a different HSP, responded to the survey. The results indicated that since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmacists have been providing consultations about COVID-19 to local residents, covering topics such as “Effective infection prevention methods” (60.6%) and “What the COVID-19 pandemic would be” (48.8%). Importantly, 73.5% of the pharmacists felt they “did not have enough information about COVID-19.” The main information resources about COVID-19 were Internet (91.2%) and television (78.9%). Across all respondents, the mean knowledge score (4.17/10) was lower than the mean scores for attitudes (7.26/10) and practices (5.79/10). Multiple regression analysis showed that having enough information about COVID-19 was a factor strongly associated with total KAP scores (p<0.001; 95% confidence interval, −1.344 to −0.540). Conclusions Pharmacists working in community pharmacies provide residents with information related to COVID-19. In this role as a health partner, these pharmacists need a way to strengthen and expand their knowledge, and moreover, their ability to support community residents. Learning more about the available academic and scientific information, as well as having access to accurate epidemiological information, can offer a means of reaching these goals.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding COVID-19 among pharmacists partnering with community residents: A national survey in Japan

et al. 2021

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“… 13 Sato and colleagues revealed that proper resources and expertise are critical factors that influence the quality of Health Support Pharmacy services. 22 The push towards the Health Support Pharmacy framework must be driven by community pharmacies. Yet despite this obligation, the process of registering community pharmacies under the new system is not going according to the plans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

<p>Patients’ Attitudes, Awareness, and Opinions About Community Pharmacies in Japan: Next Steps for the Health Support Pharmacy System</p>

Hirota

Okamura

2020

IPRP

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Purpose Despite the formal establishment of the Health Support Pharmacy system, few community pharmacies have transitioned to this new designation in Japan. Moreover, patients’ perspectives on the usefulness of health-support pharmacies and community pharmacies have not yet been investigated. In this work, we investigated patients’ attitudes, opinions, and awareness as users of member pharmacies of the Japan Federation of Democratic Medical Institutions (Min-Iren), with respect to two essential functions provided by community pharmacies—primary care and health support—to identify modern challenges facing community pharmacies. Methods Regular visitors to participating Min-Iren community pharmacies were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire. Responses were compared between users of health-support pharmacies and other pharmacy types, as well as between members and non-members of “collaborating organizations” (CO). CO is organizational partners of Min-Iren whose activities support affiliated facilities. Logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the predictive value of different factors on pharmacies’ primary-care and health-support functionality. Results A total of 181 Min-Iren community pharmacies (51.7%: 181/350) participated in this study, and most patients answered the questionnaire (97.7%, n=2623). Relatively few patients recognized the term “Health Support Pharmacy” (12.2%). CO members tended to have a superior understanding of a wide variety of services provided by CPs as compared to non-members. Statistically significant predictors of primary-care and health-support functionality included male gender, having a primary-care pharmacist, age ≥60 years, recognition of the term “Health Support Pharmacy” and CO membership. Conclusion CO members, a class of patients with a superior awareness of health promotion, demonstrated a good understanding of the variety of services provided by community pharmacies and tended to positively rate their pharmacy. Moving forward, efforts to raise awareness about the importance of health-promotional activities among community pharmacy users should further reinforce the primary-care and health-support functions of community pharmacies.

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“…Number of Health Support Pharmacies (HSP), pharmacies accredited by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) in promoting responsible self-medication with non-prescription medicines, and increasing awareness of public health, accounts for no more than three percent of the total number of the pharmacies in Japan. [38][39][40][41] Moreover, over 90 % of consumers in Japan did not know HSP, although half of them had the willingness to use it. 42 Greenhalgh et al revealed five key factors on successful smoking cessation support in community pharmacy: pharmacist identity, pharmacist capability, pharmacist motivation, clinician confidence, and public trust.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Community pharmacies are considered to have advantages of delivering public health services in nationwide geographical accessibility and long-time operation over other primary healthcare facilities. 41 As effective primary care is promoted to contain health care expenditure in total, pharmacists should be able to meet the professional expectation by taking advantage of the opportunities they have for direct exchange at their pharmacies. Seeking via the internet was the highest among the different information sources examined.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information sources and changes in health behaviour in Japan: a cross-sectional online survey

2020

Asian Pacific Journal of Health Economics and Policy

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Exploring the factors influencing the quality of “Health Support Pharmacy” services in Japan: Perspectives of community pharmacists

Cited by 15 publications

References 21 publications

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding COVID-19 among pharmacists partnering with community residents: A national survey in Japan

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding COVID-19 among pharmacists partnering with community residents: A national survey in Japan

<p>Patients’ Attitudes, Awareness, and Opinions About Community Pharmacies in Japan: Next Steps for the Health Support Pharmacy System</p>

Information sources and changes in health behaviour in Japan: a cross-sectional online survey

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