Identifying Barriers and Facilitators at Affect Community Pharmacists' Ability to Engage Children in Medication Counseling: A Pilot Study

Abstract

OBJECTIVESThis study aimed to describe the barriers and facilitators that influence community pharmacists' ability to provide medication counseling to pediatric patients.METHODS Semistructured interviews (n = 16) were conducted with pharmacy staff at 3 community pharmacies in 2 Eastern states. The interview guide elicited pharmacy staff experiences interacting with children and their perceived barriers and facilitators to providing medication counseling. Transcripts were reviewed for accuracy and a codebook was developed for data analysis. NVivo 10 was used for content analysis and identifying relevant themes.RESULTS Ten pharmacists and 6 pharmacy technicians were interviewed. Most participants were female (69%), aged 30 to 49 years (56%), with ≥5 years of pharmacy practice experience. Eight themes emerged as barriers to pharmacists' engaging children in medication counseling, the most prevalent being the child's absence during medication pickup, the child appearing to be distracted or uninterested, and having an unconducive pharmacy environment. Pharmacy staff noted 7 common facilitators to engaging children, most importantly, availability of demonstrative and interactive devices/technology, pharmacist demeanor and communication approach, and having child-friendly educational materials.CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that pharmacy personnel are rarely able to engage children in medication counseling because of the patient's absence during medication pickup; however, having child-friendly materials could facilitate interactions when the child is present. These findings can inform programs and interventions aimed at addressing the barriers pharmacists encounter while educating children about safe and appropriate use of medicines.

Pediatric medication use experiences and patient counseling in community pharmacies: Perspectives of children and parents

“…21 Pharmacists have reported that they communicate with children approximately 30% of the time and that often only parents are present when pediatric prescriptions are picked up. 33,[35][36][37] Consequently, mainly parents receive medication information regarding their child's prescription from pharmacists. 33,35 Children's absence during medication pick-up may reduce opportunities for direct pharmacist-child communication.…”

Characterizing Pharmacist Perspectives on Utilizing a Personalized Family Medication Safety Plan for Opioid Education with Adolescents and Parents

“…Pharmacists recognized the importance of the FMSP as a communication tool to encourage patients to ask questions to make consultation more interactive and engaging. Prior research has indicated the lack of pharmacist-child consultation in community pharmacies, highlighting the importance of the FMSP in facilitating pharmacists in discussing important medication details with both parents and children [ 24 ]. However, pharmacists utilizing this tailored approach may face barriers, such as time constraints and the absence of children in community pharmacies [ 13 ].…”

Effect of pharmacists’ interventions on health outcomes of children with asthma: A systematic review

“…Pharmacists' interventions focused on children should be performed using different resources such as demonstrative and interactive games preferably mediated by electronic devices (cell phones, tablets, and so on) as well as child-friendly educational materials. 73,[92][93][94] The adaptation of the pharmacist's work process to reach the target audience (how the intervention is performed) is essential to ensure the effectiveness of the intervention. 73 Some of the key components of the interventions found in this review, such as health education (on the disease, pharmacotherapy "and" or "or drug administration), clinical monitoring, and asthma control are also performed by other health professionals such as community agents, nurses, and physicians.…”