Perception of Community Pharmacy Personnel towards Patient Counseling and Continuing Pharmacy Education Programs in Aden, Yemen

Abstract

Introduction: Patient counseling is a major component of pharmaceutical care, especially in community pharmacy settings. However, most community pharmacists still do not offer patient-oriented services. Despite the beneficial role of community pharmacists, research examining their roles and responsibilities in developing countries like Yemen is lacking. Aim: To assess the community pharmacy personnel’s perceptions towards patient counseling and to recognise the major barriers to successful counseling; and to assess their perception towards continuing pharmacy education programs in Aden. Materials and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among 200 community pharmacy personnel in Aden using a self-administered, structured questionnaire. Data were collected regarding community pharmacy personnel’s knowledge, attitude, and their perception about patients’ attitude concerning patient counseling and respondents’ attitude towards the continuing pharmacy education. Results: The majority of the respondents had a positive attitude towards patient counseling (85%) and continuing pharmacy education (94.0%); dose and frequency (43.0%), duration (34.0%) and indication (11.5%) were the major information mentioned while counseling their patients. Lack of patient interest (47.0%), lack of knowledge (20.0%) and lack of time (15.5%) were the major barriers towards counseling. Conclusion: The present study showed that most community pharmacy personnel in Aden, Yemen had a positive perception towards patient counseling and continuing pharmacy education program.

Keywords

• barriers
• cognitive services
• community pharmacists
• extended services
• yemen