Perceptions of Spanish-speaking clientele of patient care services in a community pharmacy

Abstract

Background A paucity of studies exists that have assessed community pharmacy preferences of Spanish-speaking patients living in areas of the U.S. with rapidly growing Hispanic populations. The qualitative approach to this research affords a unique opportunity to further explore perceptions of the Spanish-speaking population. Objectives To identify perceptions of Spanish-speaking patients living in the U.S. with a focus on the care provided in community pharmacies, as well as to determine their satisfaction with community pharmacies. Methods Participants were recruited after weekly Spanish-speaking church services for approximately one month. Qualitative, semi-structured individual interviews to identify perceived unmet patient care needs were conducted in Spanish and transcribed/translated verbatim. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to summarize findings. A written questionnaire was administered to collect patient satisfaction and demographic information, summarized using descriptive statistics. Results Twelve interviews were conducted by the principal investigator. Primary themes included lack of insurance coupled with high medical care costs serving as a barrier for acquisition of healthcare, difficulty accessing timely and convenient primary care, perceived negative attitudes from pharmacy personnel, lack of Spanish-speaking healthcare providers, and the provision of verbal and written medication information in English. Conclusions The results of this study suggest a great need for healthcare providers, including pharmacists, to expand outreach services to the Spanish-speaking community. Some examples derived from the interview process include increasing marketing efforts of available services in the Spanish language, hiring Spanish-speaking personnel, and offering medical terminology education classes to Spanish-speaking patients.

Patient satisfaction of pharmaceutical care of primary care centers at Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia

“…[26,27] The primary care center pharmacy normally dispenses very simple medications; it does not take much time to prepare or dispense like hospitals, some hospital pharmacies do not have a waiting area, this may lead patient un-satisfy with pharmacy services. In Medication Availability domain our results within range results of community pharmacies international studies [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] and better than results of hospital pharmacies studies by Surur AS et al [19] and rage results of community pharmacies national and Gulf region studies. [26,27] The number of medications at hospital pharmacies is huge list reach to sometimes more than 800 items, it does not look like primary care medication not exceeding more 120 items, maybe it is easier to follow up the medication availabilities than hospitals.…”

“…In Pharmacy location domain results within range results of community pharmacies international studies [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] and better than results of hospital pharmacies study conducted by Surur AS et al [19] and range results of community pharmacies national and Gulf region studies. [26,27] Most hospitals the pharmacy located at basement while at primary care center located near the clinics and some community pharmacies at our region found in not good position.…”

“…[20][21][22][23][24][25] It was near to results range of community pharmacies in other countries [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] and community pharmacies with special program international studies. [13][14][15][16] It was better than range results hospital pharmacies international studies by Surur AS et al, [19] and community and hospital pharmacies national and Gulf region studies.…”

“…[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] The results from hospital pharmacies studies by Surur AS et al [19] Also, results from hospital pharmacies with special program international studies. [20][21][22][23][24][25] It was better than results range of community pharmacies with special program international studies.…”

“…The plan contains assessment and follow-up indicators, one of the major indicators elements was a patient satisfaction of pharmaceutical care. [1] Most of the previous literature around the world studied general patient satisfaction at community pharmacies, [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] some literature discussed patient satisfaction measurement with an emphasis of special clinical pharmacy program at community pharmacies. [13][14][15][16] Other studies addressed patient satisfaction at hospital pharmacies, [17][18][19] and some literature emphasized on specialized clinical pharmacy program at the hospital.…”