Pharmacists & community Pharmacy

Chapter 1
 Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Background ................................................................................................................................. 2
Aim and Objective ...................................................................................................................... 4
Rationale ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Research Questions .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
References ....................................................................................................................................... 7

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 Chapter 1: Introduction

Background

From the last several decades, the drug specialists and the community pharmacists are

practising over significant roles such as medication supply, compounding and trading in the

societies. These certain practices headed the pharmacists towards self-sufficiency as experts in

the healthcare industry that urge them to achieve their objectives in various specialisations.

However, the speedy technological advances, training, and education, the exchanging status of

the population in terms of social, financial, and cultural means and the rising necessities of

patients have caused numerous changes, which finally led community pharmacists to the failure

in various specialisations in these specified roles (Waring, Latif, Boyd, Barber, & Elliott, 2016).

In order to employ and capitalise community pharmacists in the societies, the practice of new

roles introduced to the profession of communal pharmacy while adapting numerous changes as

well as the rising necessities of the patients. These new roles uniquely designed by the

knowledge of safety related to the profile of medication, which includes the efficiency of

medicines, preferences of the patients, contradictions, communications, symptoms, and the

determination of drugs or medicines (Um, Armour, Krass, Gill, & Chaar, 2014).

In the UAE, the new roles introduced by the community pharmacists, have advanced

their practices towards the necessities of patients. According to the identification of several

studies, new roles may result many advantages to the community pharmacists. Pharmacists who

are willing to extend their practices in various specialisations as well as to the patient’s

perspective, which includes the enhancement of quality care, a workload reduction of the

practitioner and the reduction of costs for the long-term stabilisation of healthcare (Wibowo,

Parsons, Sunderland, & Hughes, 2015). According to the perspective and opinions of the

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professionals, there are many potential advantages that could gain by the community

pharmacists, which include the satisfaction of paid jobs and their professional status. However,

there are few possible inconveniences that could encounter by the extensive roles of community

pharmacists, which may result in the pressure of work and a strained relationship between the

physicians/doctors, and pharmacists (Saramunee, et al., 2014).

The roles of the community pharmacists have begun with the idea of pharmaceutical care

and its preface. The main objective of the idea is to enhance the quality of patient’s life, whereas

the pharmaceutical care is characterised as an accountable and highly responsive provision of

medical treatment to achieve distinct results, which target the satisfaction and quality life of

patients. Subsequently, the roles of community pharmacists extended in the UAE to pursue the

incorporation of disease management, assessment in health care, screening and monitoring,

management of chronic disease. It aims to organise planning for the minor illness, reviews

related to the usage of medicines, dispensing according to the demand and necessity, awareness

session on the issues of healthcare such as quit smoking, observatory check and balance over the

prescriptions and the improvement of promoted plans for the awareness of the utilisation of

medicines (O'reilly, Bell, Kelly, & Chen, 2015).

In the comparison with other urban countries around the world specifically in the Middle

East the UAE has a significant impression in terms of development in various sectors; the roles

of the community pharmacists are not really extended and practised in terms of the optimal

concentration of medications. However, the legislative bodies of the United Arab Emirates

specifically The Ministry of Health, Dubai Health Authority (DHA), and the Health Authority of

Abu-Dhabi (HAAD) have taken essential initiatives to permit and set up community pharmacists

to extend their roles and practises. The analysts have led many studies, identified the profession

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of the community pharmacists in the UAE by utilising the brief methodology, and identified the

limitations and barriers, which are encountered by the community pharmacists in the region

(Awaisu & Alsalimy, 2015; O'reilly, Bell, Kelly, & Chen, 2015).

The characteristics of work pressure and the apparent barriers while practising in the

professional services are the primary highlights whereas, the data gathered from the primary

highlights, which related to the occurrence of services presented in the communal pharmacies

nowadays, are the secondary highlights. In the most recent studies, analysts have validated and

utilised the survey and questionnaire tool to evaluate the satisfaction level of the patients and the

public with the services of the pharmacies, which situated in the various communities of the

UAE (Awaisu & Alsalimy, 2015).

In the primary and secondary highlights, analysts have processed the questionnaire as a tool to

conduct a survey at the community pharmacies situated in the city of Al-Ain, the UAE. The data

collected from the survey has generalised the outcomes; however, the data requires critical

research and it has not considered the diversity in the system of the healthcare in the Al-Ain city.

The size of sampling is not only based on the quantity of the pharmacies but also on the

evaluation of the sampling where the community pharmacists were picked methodically but not

randomly. As a matter of fact, the pharmacists are picked upon the basis of their availability in

the pharmacies during the process of conducting the survey (Waring, Latif, Boyd, Barber, &

Elliott, 2016).

Aim and Objective

The main objective of the research is to indicate the opinions and views towards the

willingness of the pharmacists to extend their roles and practices in the community pharmacies.

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It is critically reviewed on the basis of the literature regarding the current practices and roles of

pharmacists in the community pharmacies in the Al-Ain city of the UAE. The study is also

identifying the recognised preferences of pharmacists in order to extend their practices and roles

in the community pharmacies whereas,

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is not only limited to the extended roles and practices of the

pharmacists in the community pharmacies but to critically evaluate the relationship between

community pharmacists and the physicians. The psychological perspective of the physicians and

the patients are critically demonstrated in this study. The satisfaction level of the patients,

dispensing of the medicines, prescribed guidelines by the physicians or doctors are also critically

discussed. In order to generate the key findings of the research by conducting a survey in the

community pharmacies of the Al-Ain city, the respondents of the questionnaire are the chief

modes of the study. The responses would help the legislative bodies of the United Arab Emirates

to eliminate the barriers and limitations to promote the pharmacists for their extended roles and

practices in the region. It would be helpful to advance the system of the healthcare in the country

specifically in non-urban cities of the UAE (O'reilly, Bell, Kelly, & Chen, 2015).

Rationale
Various analysts and methodology of collecting data are critically described in this study which

defines the willingness of the pharmacists to extend their roles and practices and to promote the

system of healthcare in the United Arab Emirates. The qualitative and quantitative

methodologies are being utilised to accomplish the aims and objective of the research; whereas,

the questionnaire as a tool to conduct a survey at the local pharmacies in the Al-Ain city of the

United Arab Emirates. The sampling process is utilised to demonstrate the primary process of the

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study, which illustrated, critically on the tables and charts sources, collects the demographical

statistical data. The legislative bodies such as The Ministry of Health, Dubai Health Authority

and the Health Authority of Abu-Dhabi are the major and responsible respondents of the survey;

whereas, the patients, and the general public and local pharmacists are also critically interviewed

by the researcher (Awaisu & Alsalimy, 2015).

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References
Awaisu, A., & Alsalimy, N. (2015). Pharmacists' involvement in and attitudes toward pharmacy
practice research: A systematic review of the literature. Research in Social and
Administrative Pharmacy, 725-748.

O'reilly, C., Bell, J., Kelly, P., & Chen, T. (2015). Exploring the relationship between mental
health stigma, knowledge and provision of pharmacy services for consumers with
schizophrenia. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, e101-e109.

Saramunee, K., Krska, J., Mackridge, A., Richards, J., Suttajit, S., & Phillips-Howard, P. ..
(2014). How to enhance public health service utilization in community pharmacy?:
General public and health providers' perspectives. . Research in Social and
Administrative Pharmacy, 272-284.

Um, I., Armour, C., Krass, I., Gill, T., & Chaar, B. (2014). Consumer perspectives about weight
management services in a community pharmacy setting in NSW, Australia. Health
Expectations, 579-592.

Waring, J., Latif, A., Boyd, M., Barber, N., & Elliott, R. (2016). Pastoral power in the
community pharmacy: A Foucauldian analysis of services to promote patient adherence
to new medicine use. Social Science & Medicine, 123-130.

Wibowo, Y., Parsons, R., Sunderland, B., & Hughes, J. (2015). An evaluation of community
pharmacy-based services for type 2 diabetes in an Indonesian setting: patient survey.
PeerJ, e1449.