Development of a Questionnaire to Measure Public Perceptions of the Role of Community Pharmacy in Public Health (<i>PubPharmQ</i>)
Background: Community pharmacies are well placed to provide public-health interventions within primary care settings. This study aimed to establish the general public's perceptions of community pharmacy-based public-health services in the UK by designing a structured questionnaire to assess the...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Book |
| Published: |
MDPI AG,
2023-09-01T00:00:00Z.
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| Online Access: | Connect to this object online. |
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| Summary: | Background: Community pharmacies are well placed to provide public-health interventions within primary care settings. This study aimed to establish the general public's perceptions of community pharmacy-based public-health services in the UK by designing a structured questionnaire to assess the barriers and facilitators to optimizing this role. Methods: A standardized questionnaire was developed informed by the literature, additional semi-structured interviews, and synthesis of key findings with the authors' previous research based on data generated from eight focus groups. The original 42-item questionnaire was distributed online from May to June 2021 via social media platforms to capture the views of non-regular pharmacy users. Following exploratory factor analysis, and Cronbach's alpha analysis, total Likert scale response scores were calculated. Results: Of the 306 responders, 76.8% were female with a mean age of 34.5 years (SD = 15.09). The most prevalent pharmacy use reported was 1-2 times a year (28.1%). Exploratory factor analysis revealed four scales: <i>Expertise</i>, <i>Role in Public Health</i>, <i>Privacy</i>, and <i>Relationship</i> (18 items) with acceptable internal consistency and good face and content validity. Awareness of well-established pharmacy services was high; however, responders demonstrated poor awareness of public-health-related services and low recognition of pharmacy expertise for this role. A lack of an established relationship with community pharmacies and privacy concerns were also perceived barriers. Conclusions: Based on these findings, considerable effort is needed to increase public awareness and address these concerns if strategic plans to utilize community pharmacy in the delivery of public-health policy are to be successful. The <i>PubPharmQ</i> provides a novel, structured questionnaire to measure the public's perceptions of community pharmacy's role in public health. |
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| Item Description: | 10.3390/pharmacy11050141 2226-4787 |