COVID-19: Needs assessment of the pharmacy profession and contributions so far across the Commonwealth

Ashiru‐Oredope, Diane; Chan, Amy Hai Yan; Olaoye, Omotayo; Rutter, Victoria; Babar, Zaheer‐Ud‐Din; Anderson, Claire; Matuluko, Ayodeji; Tuck, Chloe; Halai, Manjula; Wickens, Hayley; Nambatya, Winnie; Vadlamudi, Rao; Anderson, Raymond A.

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-64723/v1

Cited by 6 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The difficulties encountered on the road while on essential duties might be attributed to the directives given by the government to the law enforcement agencies during the lockdown approach in the study area. In contrast to the findings of a previous study, two-third of the respondents found it somewhat difficult or very difficult to work effectively during the COVID-19 pandemic [25].…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

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Assessing the Challenges of Pharmaceutical Practices during COVID-19 Pandemic in Nigeria

Ekechukwu¹

2021

TIJPH

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Pharmacies are the frontline of the pandemic and critical to maintaining public health. The emergence of COVID-19 brought unprecedented challenges and changes to all nations of the world. In the light of this, this study assessed the challenges of pharmaceutical practices in Nigeria during COVID-19. A descriptive cross-sectional survey design was adopted, and the data were collected from 1,200 respondents through the interview schedule and structured questionnaire using a systematic random sampling technique. A total of 1,118 copies of the questionnaire were retrieved, coded, and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics aided by the SPSS software version 23. The study discovered different factors that influenced the effective practice of pharmacists during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of this study revealed that the majority, 591(52.9%) of the pharmacists, encountered difficulties on the road with security personnel while on essential duty and also found it ‘somewhat difficult to work during the pandemic. The results of Factor Analysis grouped the major challenges into material and financial constraints. The results showed two orthogonal factors pharmaceutical practices, which were derived with the total explanation of 65.35% of the variance. Only variables with constraints loadings of 0.70 and above were used in naming the constraints. The material constraint has the greatest impact on effective practices of pharmacists to provide treatment for illnesses during COVID-19 with a 44.16% contribution. There is a need for government and institution supports for better and effective pharmaceutical practices before, during, and after any sort of pandemic, especially in drugs supplies and financial assistance. Keywords: Assessment, Challenges, COVID-19 Pandemic, Pharmaceutical Practices, Nigeria.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…In Nigeria, studies have been conducted on COVID-19 [15,17,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. From these previous studies, little or no studies have been conducted on the challenges facing pharmaceutical practices during COVID-19 in Nigeria.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Challenges of Pharmaceutical Practices during COVID-19 Pandemic in Nigeria

Ekechukwu¹

2021

TIJPH

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“…One of the case studies from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reported the lack of a national policy as well as practices and processes at healthcare organizational levels as challenges in implementing telepharmacy [ 37 ]. A case study from 54 Commonwealth countries reported issues with the internet, social isolation, difficulty keeping a regular schedule, difficulty accessing tools, lack of physical workspace and difficulty communicating with co-workers as challenges to telepharmacy [ 40 ]. Reimbursement issues were also noted by one case study from Bangladesh [ 47 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A review article from Sri Lanka recommended the need for appropriate legislation and prescribing protocols, especially for controlled medications [ 44 ]. Case studies also suggested providing training to pharmacists for emergency preparedness and providing educational sessions to the public to reduce telepharmacy skepticism [ 40 , 43 , 49 ]. Other strategies included developing appropriate communication protocols with onsite and offsite team members [ 22 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A case study from the U.S. reported developing patient resources to help set up and prepare the patient for a telepharmacy visit [ 32 ]. Resources were also created by professional associations, regulatory bodies and universities to assist healthcare professionals in conducting virtual consultations [ 26 , 40 ]. One article also reported the use of a geriatric-specific telemedicine consultation device known as GeriMedRisk [ 20 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Telepharmacy during COVID-19: A Scoping Review

et al. 2021

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The objective of this scoping review is to summarize the implementation of telepharmacy during the surge of COVID-19. This review will focus on answering four questions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, (1) what were the various telepharmacy initiatives implemented? (2) what were the challenges faced when implementing telehealth initiatives? (3) what were the strategies used by pharmacies to overcome the challenges, and (4) what were some of the innovative methods used by pharmacies to implement telepharmacy? A literature search was conducted to include publications post-March 2020 about telepharmacy implementation via PubMed Central database and Google searches. All articles were examined for inclusion or exclusion based on pre-determined criteria. A total of 33 articles were reviewed. The most commonly observed telepharmacy initiatives were virtual consultations, home delivery of medicines and patient education. Limited access to technology and lack of digital access and literacy were major barriers in the implementation of telepharmacy. New protocols were developed by healthcare systems and regulations were relaxed by countries to accommodate telepharmacy. Pharmacies that successfully implemented telepharmacy overcame these challenges through patient and pharmacist education. The review also revealed the steps that can be taken by pharmacy organizations, payers and entrepreneurs in leveraging the convenience of telepharmacy.

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Scoping of pharmacists’ health leadership training needs for effective antimicrobial stewardship in Africa

Ikhile

Gülpınar²,

Iqbal³

et al. 2023

J of Pharm Policy and Pract

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Background Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health concern currently mitigated by antimicrobial stewardship (AMS). Pharmacists are strategically placed to lead AMS actions that contribute to responsible use of antimicrobials; however, this is undermined by an acknowledged health leadership skills deficit. Learning from the UK’s Chief Pharmaceutical Officer's Global Health (ChPOGH) Fellowship programme, the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA) is focused to develop a health leadership training program for pharmacists in eight sub-Saharan African countries. This study thus explores need-based leadership training needs for pharmacists to provide effective AMS and inform the CPA’s development of a focused leadership training programme, the ‘Commonwealth Partnerships in AMS, Health Leadership Programme’ (CwPAMS/LP). Methods A mixed methods approach was undertaken. Quantitative data were collected via a survey across 8 sub-Saharan African countries and descriptively analysed. Qualitative data were collected through 5 virtual focus group discussions, held between February and July 2021, involving stakeholder pharmacists from different sectors in the 8 countries and were analysed thematically. Data were triangulated to determine priority areas for the training programme. Results The quantitative phase produced 484 survey responses. Focus groups had 40 participants from the 8 countries. Data analysis revealed a clear need for a health leadership programme, with 61% of respondents finding previous leadership training programmes highly beneficial or beneficial. A proportion of survey participants (37%) and the focus groups highlighted poor access to leadership training opportunities in their countries. Clinical pharmacy (34%) and health leadership (31%) were ranked as the two highest priority areas for further training of pharmacists. Within these priority areas, strategic thinking (65%), clinical knowledge (57%), coaching and mentoring (51%), and project management (58%) were selected as the most important. Conclusions The study highlights the training needs of pharmacists and priority focus areas for health leadership to advance AMS within the African context. Context-specific identification of priority areas supports a needs-based approach to programme development, maximising African pharmacists’ contribution to AMS for improved and sustainable patient outcomes. This study recommends incorporating conflict management, behaviour change techniques, and advocacy, amongst others, as areas of focus to train pharmacist leaders to contribute to AMS effectively.

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COVID-19: Needs assessment of the pharmacy profession and contributions so far across the Commonwealth

Cited by 6 publications

References 17 publications

Assessing the Challenges of Pharmaceutical Practices during COVID-19 Pandemic in Nigeria

Assessing the Challenges of Pharmaceutical Practices during COVID-19 Pandemic in Nigeria

Telepharmacy during COVID-19: A Scoping Review

Scoping of pharmacists’ health leadership training needs for effective antimicrobial stewardship in Africa

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