Could community pharmacies help to improve youth health? Service availability and views of pharmacy personnel in New Zealand
Author(s)
Horsfield, Emma
Kelly, Fiona
Sheridan, Janie
Stewart, Joanna
Clark, Terryann
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2014
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Objectives To investigate the availability of youth-relevant community pharmacy services in New Zealand (NZ), and the opinions of pharmacy personnel on the appropriateness of these services for young people aged 12-24. Methods Pharmacist and pharmacy support staff (PSS) questionnaires were developed collaboratively with a Youth Advisory Group (YAG) and were mailed to 500 randomly selected community pharmacies in NZ. Results Response rates for questionnaires were 50.5 % for pharmacists and 37.0 % for PSS. The majority of community pharmacies in NZ offer public health services relevant to youth health including emergency ...
View more >Objectives To investigate the availability of youth-relevant community pharmacy services in New Zealand (NZ), and the opinions of pharmacy personnel on the appropriateness of these services for young people aged 12-24. Methods Pharmacist and pharmacy support staff (PSS) questionnaires were developed collaboratively with a Youth Advisory Group (YAG) and were mailed to 500 randomly selected community pharmacies in NZ. Results Response rates for questionnaires were 50.5 % for pharmacists and 37.0 % for PSS. The majority of community pharmacies in NZ offer public health services relevant to youth health including emergency contraception, condoms, smoking cessation, weight management and harm reduction services for drug use. Not all pharmacy personnel believed these services are appropriate for youth, particularly for those aged 16 or under. PSS appeared less likely than pharmacists to feel services were appropriate. Conclusions Community pharmacies are offering an increasing range of youth-relevant health services, and may, therefore, be able to improve youth healthcare access. More research is required to investigate the barriers to young people accessing services from pharmacies, and also the challenges for pharmacy personnel in providing services to this age group.
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View more >Objectives To investigate the availability of youth-relevant community pharmacy services in New Zealand (NZ), and the opinions of pharmacy personnel on the appropriateness of these services for young people aged 12-24. Methods Pharmacist and pharmacy support staff (PSS) questionnaires were developed collaboratively with a Youth Advisory Group (YAG) and were mailed to 500 randomly selected community pharmacies in NZ. Results Response rates for questionnaires were 50.5 % for pharmacists and 37.0 % for PSS. The majority of community pharmacies in NZ offer public health services relevant to youth health including emergency contraception, condoms, smoking cessation, weight management and harm reduction services for drug use. Not all pharmacy personnel believed these services are appropriate for youth, particularly for those aged 16 or under. PSS appeared less likely than pharmacists to feel services were appropriate. Conclusions Community pharmacies are offering an increasing range of youth-relevant health services, and may, therefore, be able to improve youth healthcare access. More research is required to investigate the barriers to young people accessing services from pharmacies, and also the challenges for pharmacy personnel in providing services to this age group.
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Journal Title
International Journal of Public Health
Volume
59
Issue
5
Subject
Public Health and Health Services not elsewhere classified
Public Health and Health Services