Needs assessment study for community pharmacy travel medicine services.
BACKGROUND
Community pharmacists in the UK currently provide limited travel medicine services. An enhanced service could offer the traveling public general advice, provision of immunizations, and malaria prophylaxis. The assessment of need for a travel vaccine service from community pharmacies is key to the decision to develop the service.


METHODS
The needs assessment used a questionnaire survey of potential travelers recruited from community pharmacies and the regional travel clinic.


RESULTS
In total, 151 completed questionnaires were received (response rate 40%); nearly three times as many replies were from females (74%) than males (26%). Details for 230 different proposed visits abroad and 174 different past visits were analyzed. General medical practice (54.3%) and community pharmacies (36.4%) were rated as providing the most useful advice. Most respondents (76.4%) required advice on vaccines, 53.9% on malaria prophylaxis, and 54.9% on bite prevention. Many (58.9%) agreed, or strongly agreed, that they would use the community pharmacy to provide travel immunizations, while 43% (strongly) agreed that they would be prepared to pay to obtain travel medicine services including immunizations. The median amount that participants were prepared to pay for a full travel assessment was pound 10, pound 13 for the administration of typhoid vaccine, pound 70 for a course of rabies vaccine, and pound 25 for malaria tablets for Kenya. Nearly three quarters (74.8%) agreed, or strongly agreed, that the community pharmacy would provide a convenient location from which to obtain travel services and 70.2% that the pharmacy could provide a one-stop shop for travel medicine services.


CONCLUSIONS
Members of the traveling public do visit community pharmacies, and most people are traveling for holiday purposes. The results suggest that travelers would be prepared to use the community pharmacy to provide travel advice and immunizations.
Hind
Caroline A
CA
Pharmacy Medicines Unit, Westholme, Woodend Hospital, Aberdeen, UK. caroline.hind2@nhs.net
Bond
Christine M
CM
Lee
Amanda J
AJ
van Teijlingen
Edwin R
ER
D000328:Adult; D018890:Chemoprevention / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003157:Community Pharmacy Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003376:Counseling / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014195:Travel; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology