The attitudes of community pharmacists towards dementia care education and training

Zahraa Jalal, Asma Yahyouche, Madiyyah Nishat

Research output: Contribution to conference (unpublished)Paperpeer-review

Abstract

Objective
To explore the nature of dementia services provided by community pharmacies and to determine the attitudes and opinions of community pharmacists towards current dementia education and training.

Methods
A questionnaire was developed and distributed to a total of 625 pharmacy premises (face-to-face, over the phone, by email and by post) across Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, London, Sheffield, Liverpool, Leeds, Bristol, Manchester and Portsmouth. Ethical approval was granted by The School of Pharmacy/University of Birmingham.

Results
A total of 178 respondents were received, with slightly over one fifth not providing any dementia care. In general, pharmacists reported high levels of contact with dementia patients and their carers within the community. In many cases care involved the provision of multicompartment compliance aids (89.2%) and encouraging competent patients to self-manage (76.4%). Some services were not fully utilised for example reducing brand substitution (42.9%) or modifying medication labels or packaging (41.3 %). Moreover, just under half of respondents rated dementia education and training as average, and 81.1% agreed to having to seek out their own dementia related training opportunities. A lack of collaboration between community pharmacy and dementia education and training providers was also noted and for the vast majority (77%) this lack of support underlined feelings of being underused.

Conclusions
Dementia continues to be a difficult topic for community pharmacists. [1][2] Key findings indicate there remains no formal or mandatory dementia training for community pharmacists. With many of them feeling underused and under-supported, their potential in the field of dementia remains unharnessed. Suggestions to improve dementia education and training may enable them to provide better care and services.

References

1. Maidment. I.D, Aston. L, Hilton. A, et.al, Role of community pharmacists in the use of antipsychotics for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD); a qualitative study; British Medical Journal Open; (2016); 6(3): 1-6
2. Barry. H.E, Parsons. C, Passmore. A.P et.al, Community pharmacists and people with dementia: a cross sectional survey exploring experiences, attitudes and knowledge of pain and its management; International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry; (2013); 28(10): 1077-1085
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 12 May 2017
EventClinical Pharmacy Congress 2017 - London, United Kingdom
Duration: 12 May 201713 May 2017

Conference

ConferenceClinical Pharmacy Congress 2017
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityLondon
Period12/05/1713/05/17

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