Time for harmonization: Pharmacists as immunizers across Canadian jurisdictions

Fonseca, Joseph; Sharpe, Jane Pearson; Houle, Sherilyn K.D.; Waite, Nancy

doi:10.1177/1715163519879179

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 11 publications

(13 reference statements)

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“…Topics taught by each program were then compared to the scope of practice for the province within which each institution was located. Scope of practice for each province was determined by consulting the resources published by the Canadian Pharmacists Association [1], published literature on Canadian pharmacists' scope of practice related to vaccination [28], and provincial regulatory body websites as required. In the assessment of alignment between teaching areas and scope of practice related to prescribing, only malaria, travellers' diarrhea and altitude sickness were included due to the frequency at which they are seen in travel medicine practice and the frequent need for prescription products for their prevention and/or treatment [29].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Travel Medicine Curricula across Canadian Pharmacy Programs and Alignment with Scope of Practice

2020

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Limited research exists on pharmacy students’ training in travel medicine, and how this aligns with scope of practice. This research aimed to detail travel medicine education across pharmacy programs in Canada and map this against the scope of practice for pharmacists in each university’s jurisdiction. A survey based on the International Society of Travel Medicine’s Body of Knowledge was developed and distributed to all Canadian undergraduate pharmacy schools to identify topic areas taught, teaching modalities utilized, and knowledge assessment performed. Educational data was collected and analyzed descriptively, and compared to pharmacists’ scope of practice in the province in which each university is located. Training provided to students varied significantly across universities and topic areas, with topics amenable to self-care (e.g., traveller’s diarrhea and insect bite prevention) or also encountered outside of the travel context (e.g., sexually transmitted infections) taught more regularly than travel-specific topics (e.g., dengue and altitude illness). No apparent relationship was observed between a program’s curriculum and their provincial scope of practice. For example, training in vaccine-preventable diseases did not necessarily align with scope related to vaccine administration. Alignment of education to current and future scope will best equip new practitioners to provide care to travelling patients.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Travel Medicine Curricula across Canadian Pharmacy Programs and Alignment with Scope of Practice

2020

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“…24 This legislation restricts the age of administration to older children, usually 5 years of age and older. [25][26][27] The vaccines pharmacists are permitted to administer differ by province, with some limiting to influenza and others including travel vaccines and other routine and recommended vaccines. 28 The role of pharmacists in providing vaccinations beyond influenza has not been fully explored in Canada.…”

Section: Research In Progressmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pharmacists as immunizers to Improve coverage and provider/recipient satisfaction: A prospective, Controlled Community Embedded Study with vaccineS with low coverage rates (the Improve ACCESS Study): Study summary and anticipated significance

et al. 2020

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“…In an effort to increase vaccination rates in adolescents and adults, all provincial governments in Canada have expanded the scope of practice of pharmacists to include the administration of influenza and other critical vaccines. This expanded scope of practice has also been implemented in Yukon, but not in the other territories (i.e., Northwest Territories and Nunavut) [ 23 , 24 ]. In Canada, the support for broadening of the scope of pharmacists’ practice and nurses began in 2003, based on a growing recognition that patients’ health care demands are exceeding physicians’ capacity to address them.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While all Canadian provincial jurisdictions have granted pharmacists the authority to vaccinate; Québec was the last province to do so. From June 2019 to March 2020, the government of Québec only tabled a provincial legislation (i.e., Bill 31) to extend vaccination authority to pharmacists [ 23 , 24 ]. Prior to March 2020, pharmacies in Québec were therefore largely limited to distributing vaccines.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Helping Québec Pharmacists Seize the Vaccination Service Opportunity: The Pharmacy Best Practice Workshops

Srirangan¹,

Lavenue²

2021

Pharmacy

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Vaccinations are a safe and effective way to protect against infectious diseases. The World Health Organization estimates vaccines have saved more lives than any other interventions and every year about two to three million deaths are averted worldwide through immunization. To improve vaccination coverage, pharmacists have been increasingly involved in immunization roles in their communities—as advocates, educators, and immunizers. Community pharmacy-based vaccination services have increased both in the number of immunization providers and the number of sites where patients can receive immunizations. In Canada, health care is under provincial legislation—and so, there are distinct differences in scope of pharmacist practice across the country. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020, in Québec, Canada’s second-largest province, pharmacists did not have the authority to administer vaccines. To help prepare pharmacists in Québec to become immunizers, we developed and deployed a series of accredited workshops. In these facilitated workshops, pharmacists were able to share best practices that may lead to providing effective vaccination services, identify common competency gaps, discuss effective patient communication skills, and determine how to target the most vulnerable population groups. Participants were also asked to evaluate the workshop. Our results indicate the evaluation was very reliable in measuring participant satisfaction (Cronbach’s α = 0.94) and pharmacists commented that the workshops’ learning outcomes exceeded their expectations, and the topics covered were relevant and applicable. The evaluation also asked participants to identify weaknesses of training, so future educational interventions can be planned accordingly. We believe this work will contribute to the continual growth and advancement of the pharmacy profession in Canada.

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Time for harmonization: Pharmacists as immunizers across Canadian jurisdictions

Cited by 12 publications

References 11 publications

Travel Medicine Curricula across Canadian Pharmacy Programs and Alignment with Scope of Practice

Travel Medicine Curricula across Canadian Pharmacy Programs and Alignment with Scope of Practice

Pharmacists as immunizers to Improve coverage and provider/recipient satisfaction: A prospective, Controlled Community Embedded Study with vaccineS with low coverage rates (the Improve ACCESS Study): Study summary and anticipated significance

Helping Québec Pharmacists Seize the Vaccination Service Opportunity: The Pharmacy Best Practice Workshops

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