Community pharmacists’ attitudes toward palliative care: An Australian nationwide survey

Background: Pharmacists are among the most accessible health care professionals in the community, yet are often not involved in community palliative care teams.Objective: We investigated community pharmacists’ attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and knowledge about palliative care as a first step towards...

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Main Authors: O'Connor, Moira, Hewitt, Lauren, Tuffin, P.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc Publishers 2013
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/42986
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author O'Connor, Moira
Hewitt, Lauren
Tuffin, P.
author_facet O'Connor, Moira
Hewitt, Lauren
Tuffin, P.
author_sort O'Connor, Moira
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Background: Pharmacists are among the most accessible health care professionals in the community, yet are often not involved in community palliative care teams.Objective: We investigated community pharmacists’ attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and knowledge about palliative care as a first step towards determining how best to facilitate the inclusion of community pharmacists on the palliative care team.Method: A cross-sectional descriptive survey design was used.Subjects: Community pharmacists around Australia were invited to participate; 250 completed surveys were returned.Measurements: A survey was constructed to measure pharmacists’ knowledge and experience, emotions and beliefs about palliative care.Results: Pharmacists were generally positive about providing services and supports for palliative care patients, yet they also reported negative beliefs and emotions about palliative care. In addition, pharmacists had good knowledge of some aspects of palliative care, but misconceptions about other aspects. Pharmacists’ beliefs and knowledge about palliative care predicted—and therefore underpinned—a positive attitude towards palliative care and the provision of services and supports for palliative care patients.Conclusion: The results provide evidence that pharmacists need training and support to facilitate their involvement in providing services and supports for palliative care patients, and highlight areas that training and support initiatives should focus on.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-429862018-03-29T09:07:59Z Community pharmacists’ attitudes toward palliative care: An Australian nationwide survey O'Connor, Moira Hewitt, Lauren Tuffin, P. Background: Pharmacists are among the most accessible health care professionals in the community, yet are often not involved in community palliative care teams.Objective: We investigated community pharmacists’ attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and knowledge about palliative care as a first step towards determining how best to facilitate the inclusion of community pharmacists on the palliative care team.Method: A cross-sectional descriptive survey design was used.Subjects: Community pharmacists around Australia were invited to participate; 250 completed surveys were returned.Measurements: A survey was constructed to measure pharmacists’ knowledge and experience, emotions and beliefs about palliative care.Results: Pharmacists were generally positive about providing services and supports for palliative care patients, yet they also reported negative beliefs and emotions about palliative care. In addition, pharmacists had good knowledge of some aspects of palliative care, but misconceptions about other aspects. Pharmacists’ beliefs and knowledge about palliative care predicted—and therefore underpinned—a positive attitude towards palliative care and the provision of services and supports for palliative care patients.Conclusion: The results provide evidence that pharmacists need training and support to facilitate their involvement in providing services and supports for palliative care patients, and highlight areas that training and support initiatives should focus on. 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/42986 10.1089/jpm.2013.0171 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc Publishers restricted
spellingShingle O'Connor, Moira
Hewitt, Lauren
Tuffin, P.
Community pharmacists’ attitudes toward palliative care: An Australian nationwide survey
title Community pharmacists’ attitudes toward palliative care: An Australian nationwide survey
title_full Community pharmacists’ attitudes toward palliative care: An Australian nationwide survey
title_fullStr Community pharmacists’ attitudes toward palliative care: An Australian nationwide survey
title_full_unstemmed Community pharmacists’ attitudes toward palliative care: An Australian nationwide survey
title_short Community pharmacists’ attitudes toward palliative care: An Australian nationwide survey
title_sort community pharmacists’ attitudes toward palliative care: an australian nationwide survey
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/42986