Exploring consumer and pharmacist views on the professional role of the pharmacist with respect to natural health products: a study of focus groups.
BACKGROUND
Natural health products (NHPs) such as herbs, vitamins and homeopathic medicines, are currently available for sale in most Canadian pharmacies. However, most pharmacists report that they have limited knowledge about these products which have been regulated in Canada as a specific sub-category of drugs. In this paper, consumers' and practicing pharmacists' perceptions of pharmacists' professional responsibilities with respect to NHPs are examined.


METHODS
A total of 16 focus groups were conducted with consumers (n = 50) and pharmacists (n = 47) from four different cities across Canada (Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, and Halifax).


RESULTS
In this paper, we illustrate the ways in which pharmacists' professional responsibilities are impacted by changing consumer needs. Many consumers in the study utilized a wide range of information resources that may or may not have included pharmacists. Nevertheless, the majority of consumers and pharmacists agreed that pharmacists should be knowledgeable about NHPs and felt that pharmacists should be able to manage drug-NHPs interactions as well as identify and evaluate the variety of information available to help consumers make informed decisions.


CONCLUSIONS
This paper demonstrates that consumers' expectations and behaviour significantly impact pharmacists' perceptions of their professional responsibilities with respect to NHPs.
Kwan
Della
D
1Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. della.kwan@utoronto.ca
Boon
Heather S
HS
Hirschkorn
Kristine
K
Welsh
Sandy
S
Jurgens
Tannis
T
Eccott
Lynda
L
Heschuk
Shirley
S
Griener
Glenn G
GG
Cohen-Kohler
Jillian C
JC
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003157:Community Pharmacy Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009864:Ontario; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D024382:Professional Role; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D004366:Nonprescription Drugs