title: Impact of training on pharmacists' counseling of patients starting antidepressant therapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To measure the impact of a one-day depression-related training program on pharmacists' counseling of unannounced "mystery shoppers" (MS) starting antidepressant therapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clustered RCT pharmacies; intervention group pharmacists received communication skills training related to depression (n=21); control pharmacists did not (n=19). Eight months after training, the 40 community pharmacies were visited by MS with a first prescription for antidepressants. The pharmacy interactions were recorded and analyzed using the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS). Mann-Whitney U tests were used to evaluate the impact of training on pharmacy interactions and MS evaluations of the pharmacists' skills and attitudes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Interactions of intervention group pharmacists were significantly longer and consisted of more education and counseling statements about lifestyle and psychosocial concerns. Intervention group pharmacists asked more questions about medical condition and therapeutic regimen, as well as socioemotional concerns. MS gave more socioemotional information to intervention group pharmacists and were more positive in their assessment of these pharmacists' skills and attitudes (p values<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pharmacist training in depression care can positively affect the quality of patient care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Postgraduate training in depression related services is a worthwhile approach to improve the quality of pharmaceutical care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical & Pharmacological Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: sophie.liekens@pharm.kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liekens
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical & Pharmacological Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Eline
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vandael
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Roter
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Larson
authors.affiliation: Institute for Mediastudies, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Marketing Management, Lessius University College, Belgium.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Smits
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical & Pharmacological Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Gert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Laekeman
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical & Pharmacological Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Veerle
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Foulon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001530:Belgium; D003142:Communication; D003376:Counseling; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy; D004513:Education, Pharmacy, Continuing / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010593:Pharmaceutical Services / Q000592:standards; D010594:Pharmacies; D010595:Pharmacists; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents
keywords: Antidepressants; Depression care; Pharmaceutical care; Pharmacists; Pharmacist–patient communication; RIAS; Roter Interaction Analysis System