A Systematic Review of the Effects of Continuing Education Programs on Providing Clinical Community Pharmacy Services

Abstract

Objective. To summarize the effects of media methods used in continuing education (CE) programs on providing clinical community pharmacy services and the methods used to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs. Methods. A systematic review was performed using Medline, SciELO, and Scopus databases. The timeline of the search was 1990 to 2013. Searches were conducted in English, Portuguese, and Spanish. Results. Nineteen articles of 3990 were included. Fourteen studies used only one media method, and the live method (n511) was the most frequent (alone or in combination). Only two studies found that the CE program was ineffective or partially effective; these studies used only the live method. Most studies used nonrobust, nonvalidated, and nonstandardized methods to measure effectiveness. The majority of studies focused on the effect of the CE program on modifying the knowledge and skills of the pharmacists. One study assessed the CE program's benefits to patients or clients. Conclusion. No evidence was obtained regarding which media methods are the most effective. Robust and validated methods, as well as assessment standardization, are required to clearly determine whether a particular media method is effective.Keywords: continuing education, community pharmacy, pharmacy service INTRODUCTIONCommunity pharmacists are among the most accessible health professionals. They are in a unique position to help patients manage several health conditions. In recent decades, the role of community pharmacists has shifted from providing medications to providing clinical community pharmacy services (eg, drug therapy management, residential medication management review, and pharmacybased minor ailment treatment regiments, among others). [1][2][3] This shift has created a need to develop and maintain expertise and competence in new areas, including pharmacotherapy, interpersonal communication, and patient information documentation. 4,5 However, pharmacy curricula in several countries do not focus on clinical community pharmacy services. Only a few disciplines focus on developing communication skills and pharmacotherapy knowledge. [6][7][8] Studies report that community pharmacists in several countries have insufficient knowledge in these areas, 9-12 and community pharmacists commonly provide clinical community pharmacy services at an unsatisfactory level of quality. [13][14][15] Such a situation poses problems concerning appropriateness, effectiveness, safety, and adherence to patients' drug therapy regimens.Continuing education (CE) programs can play a vital role in expanding basic pharmacy education and enhancing therapeutic management skills, particularly in areas for which insufficient training has been received or achieved during undergraduate studies. 16 Increasingly, more countries are implementing CE program for community pharmacists as obligatory lifelong learning programs in an attempt to improve clinical community pharmacy 1 services. Nevertheless, much remains unclear about which media methods in CE programs provide...

Involvement of community pharmacists in continuing professional development (CPD): a baseline survey in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia

“…Increasingly, more countries worldwide are implementing CE program for community pharmacists as obligatory lifelong learning programs in an attempt to improve clinical community pharmacy services [7]. …”

“…In the nation there is a shift in trend of pharmacy practice towards patient-focused one [9]. Such shift is known to create a need to develop and maintain expertise and competence in new areas, including pharmacotherapy and interpersonal communication among others [7]. …”

The Benefit of Continuing Professional Development for Continuing Pharmacy Education

“…8,9 Specific to the pharmacy profession, studies analyzing individual CPE activities have generally, although not exclusively, shown positive effects on behaviors or patient outcomes, [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] and one systematic review cited the effectiveness of the majority of CPE programs based on their reported outcomes measures, most often knowledge or skill modification. 17 Given the frequency of evidence supporting continuing education outcomes, the ultimate CE research question is not "Is CE effective?" but rather "What kinds of CE are effective?"…”

Needs and Opportunities for Outpatient Pharmacies in Colombia: The Case of Continuing Education Programs for Pharmacists

“…Most studies were oriented to the effect of continuing education programs in modifying the understanding and skills of pharmacists, and only one study evaluated the benefits of the program for patients or customers. The authors concluded that there is not enough evidence to support which media methods are the most effective and that it is needed to intervene with robust, standardized and validated methods (8). Then, some challenges are still dormant, among them there are programs of continuing education, evaluation and continued implementation, which have innovative approaches supported by ICT and that are oriented at the outpatient pharmacies in the Colombian context with the purpose of achieve an interdisciplinary work.…”

“…educative programs for outpatient pharmacists as obligatory and lifelong learning programs to improve pharmacy care services (8).…”