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Community pharmacists in Australia: barriers to information provision on complementary and alternative medicines

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Abstract

Objective

To determine, by surveying Australian community pharmacists, the perceived barriers to the provision of information about complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) and suggestions for overcoming them.

Method

Anonymous, self-administered survey sent to a random sample of 701 pharmacists registered in three states of Australia in 2004.

Main outcome measure

Pharmacists’ perceived barriers to the provision of information about CAMs.

Results

A total of 344 questionnaires were returned by pharmacists (49% response) of which 211 (30%) were currently practising in community pharmacy. Ninety-five percent of surveyed community pharmacists indicated that they personally received enquires about CAMs, with fewer than 15% reporting they were “very confident” in answering queries about safety, interactions or benefits of CAMs. Frequently used CAM information sources were those from manufacturers and distributors, professional newsletters and journals and textbooks. Pharmacists’ perceived barriers to the provision of CAM information included a lack of suitable training (most training was informal), deficiencies in available information sources, a lack of managerial support, the need for regulatory changes, consumer beliefs about CAM safety and time constraints due to competing demands in daily practice. Pharmacists proposed improvements to overcome these barriers including improvements to training.

Conclusion

There is scope for pharmacy professional organisations and educational institutions to further support pharmacists in their practice through providing information on the best information sources available and training that meets the needs of undergraduate students, pharmacists and other pharmacy staff. There is a need to examine regulatory requirements concerning the provision of product information with CAMs in Australia and to implement mechanisms for increasing consumer awareness of regulatory procedures for these medicines.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Pharmacy Boards of South Australia, Victoria and Queensland for their assistance in the mailing of questionnaires. This study was supported with funding from a University of South Australia Collaborative Grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Quality Use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre, Sansom Institute, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, North Terrace, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide, 5001, SA, Australia

    Susan J. Semple, Elizabeth Hotham, Deepa Rao & Karen Martin

  2. Centre for Allied Health Evidence, University of South Australia, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Caroline A. Smith

  3. Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies and School of Communication Information and New Media, University of South Australia, St. Bernards Road, Magill, SA, Australia

    Geraldine F. Bloustien

Authors
  1. Susan J. Semple
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  2. Elizabeth Hotham
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  3. Deepa Rao
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  4. Karen Martin
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  5. Caroline A. Smith
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  6. Geraldine F. Bloustien
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Correspondence to Susan J. Semple.

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Semple, S.J., Hotham, E., Rao, D. et al. Community pharmacists in Australia: barriers to information provision on complementary and alternative medicines. Pharm World Sci 28, 366–373 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-006-9058-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-006-9058-y

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