Pharmacists Involvement in Non-Governmental Agencies’ Health Promotional Initiatives: Views from General Public in the State of Penang, Malaysia

Abstracts / Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy 10 (2014) e1–e64 pharmacists’ perceived importance of regimen adjustment on pharmacy revenue (OR ¼ 1.29, CI ¼ 1.05-1.58). Eighty percent of the pharmacists reported starting the conversation on regimen adjustment for chronic conditions either one to three days before, or during the first week of Ramadan. More pharmacists intervened with patients coming with acute conditions (41%) as compared to chronic conditions (19%), with 33% reporting an equal rate of interventions in acute and chronic conditions. Conclusion: These results suggest considerable pharmacist patient communication gaps regarding medication use during Ramadan. It is especially important for pharmacists as well as other health professionals to initiate the communication with Muslim patients early enough to identify how best to help patients transition safely into and out of Ramadan as they fast. Pharmacists as health educator in Malaysia: perspectives from consumers G.S. Ooi1, M.A. Hassali1, A.A. Shafie1, D.C.M. Kong2, G.N. Chua1, V.S.L. Mak3, 1Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia, 2Monash University, Parkville, Victoria, Australia, 3International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia The objective of this study was to evaluate consumers’ perceptions towards the role of pharmacist as health educator (HE). Methods: This qualitative study, approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee University Sains Malaysian, was conducted in various states of Malaysia. The study participants (O 18 year olds) were recruited using purposive sampling method and the interviews were taken place at the consumers’ home setting. Recruitment was until saturation of themes. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants. A semi-structured interview guide was used to explore the following topics: knowledge about the term ‘public health educator’, acceptance of community pharmacists as public health educator, barrier to accept pharmacists and participants’ opinions towards future intervention. Face-to-face interview with consenting participants were conducted for approximately 20 minutes by a group of trained interviewers. The interviews were conducted in either Malay or English. All interviews were audiorecorded, transcribed verbatim and evaluated by thematic content analysis approach. Results: A total of twenty one consumers were interviewed (12 male; 9 female). Analysis of interview transcripts identified four major themes: understanding of the term ‘HE’, facilitators for consumers accepting pharmacists as HE, barriers to accepting pharmacists as HE and strategies to overcome the barriers. Most consumers interviewed understand the term ‘HE’ with some having their own definitions. The major facilitator for consumers accepting pharmacists as HE was due to their expert training as ‘drug expert’. The major barriers

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for the consumers to accept pharmacist’s role as HE included the experience of the pharmacist, consumers preference for general practitioners as their health educator, the unavailability of pharmacists in the premise and personal encounter with pharmacists with bad attitude. These barriers can be overcome by improving pharmacist professionalism in current practice model. The respondents indicated the need to educate the consumers about pharmacists’ roles, and the pharmacists should be more accessible to the public. Conclusions: The consumers generally accept pharmacist as HE. However, some barrier do exist. The pharmacy stakeholders in the country need to address these barriers in order to improve future utilization of community pharmacist as HE in the existing healthcare system. Pharmacists Involvement in Non-Governmental Agencies’ Health Promotional Initiatives: Views from General Public in the State of Penang, Malaysia M.A. Hassali1, F. Saleem1, H. Aljadhey2, 1School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia, 2College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia To evaluate public awareness of pharmacists’ engagement in health promotion activities organized by NonGovernmental Agencies (NGOs) in the state of Penang, Malaysia. Methods: The study was designed as a questionnaire based, cross sectional survey. One hundred and ninety respondents from the state of Penang, Malaysia were targeted for the study. SPSS v 16.0 was used to compute descriptive analysis of the study results. Results: The study cohort was dominated by females (n¼118, 62.1%) with mean age of 24.23.2 years. Seventy three (38.4%) of the respondents had a previous experience of attending health promotion activities organized by NGOs. Ninety five (50%) of respondents agreed that there is lack of pharmacists role in public health promotional activities while 77 (40.5%) remained neutral to this statement. Furthermore, 125 (65.7%) either agreed or remained neutral that pharmacists are not well trained to work with NGOs in addressing social health issues. Overall, about 154 (81.0%) of the respondents reported that pharmacists’ involvements in health promotional activities will assist public in making informed decision about quality use of medicines process. Conclusions: The study respondents had a positive perception towards the involvement of pharmacists in NGOs organized health promotional initiatives. However, several issues were raised during the study including lack of understanding on the role of pharmacists in public health activities. Concerted efforts are needed to educate general public about generalized role & responsibilities of pharmacists in the healthcare system of Malaysia.