Phokeo Vinay, Hyman Ilene
Department of Pharmacy, St. Joseph's Health Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2007 Feb 15;64(4):423-9. doi: 10.2146/ajhp060082.
A study was conducted to evaluate the current practices of pharmacists in ambulatory care clinics in communicating with and providing pharmaceutical care to patients who have limited English proficiency.
Semistructured surveys were used to gather data from 16 pharmacists and 8 physicians from 15 ambulatory care clinics in metropolitan Toronto. The survey examined pharmacists' knowledge about the linguistic services, policies, and guidelines in their ambulatory care practice settings; the strategies that pharmacists and physicians use to communicate with patients with limited English proficiency; the challenges pharmacists face when providing pharmaceutical care to those patients; the drug-related problems observed by pharmacists and physicians; and how pharmacists and physicians can collaborate to resolve medication issues for those patients.
Many pharmacists (69%) were unaware of existing institutional policies for communicating with patients with limited English proficiency. Language interpretation services in clinics were nonstandardized and did not always reflect practitioners' preferences. All aspects of pharmaceutical care were reported to be difficult to accomplish in patients with limited English proficiency. Pharmacists and physicians identified similar drug-related problems, with nonadherence being the most commonly observed drug-related problem. Strategies suggested by pharmacists and physicians to improve communication with patients involved proactively identifying language needs of patients before appointments, having translated medication information available and using trained language interpreters.
Pharmacists at 15 ambulatory care clinics reported difficulty communicating with and providing pharmaceutical care to patients with limited English proficiency. Strategies suggested by pharmacists and physicians to enhance communication with those patients may help improve the quality of pharmaceutical care delivered.
开展一项研究以评估门诊护理诊所药剂师在与英语水平有限的患者沟通及提供药学服务方面的当前实践情况。
采用半结构化调查从大多伦多地区15家门诊护理诊所的16名药剂师和8名医生处收集数据。该调查考察了药剂师对其门诊护理实践场所语言服务、政策和指南的了解情况；药剂师和医生用于与英语水平有限患者沟通的策略；药剂师在为这些患者提供药学服务时面临的挑战；药剂师和医生观察到的与药物相关的问题；以及药剂师和医生如何合作解决这些患者的用药问题。
许多药剂师（69%）不了解与英语水平有限患者沟通的现有机构政策。诊所的语言口译服务不规范，并不总是反映从业者的偏好。据报告，在英语水平有限的患者中，药学服务的各个方面都难以完成。药剂师和医生识别出类似的与药物相关的问题，其中用药依从性差是最常观察到的与药物相关的问题。药剂师和医生提出的改善与患者沟通的策略包括在预约前主动识别患者的语言需求、提供翻译后的用药信息以及使用经过培训的语言口译员。
15家门诊护理诊所的药剂师报告称，在与英语水平有限的患者沟通及提供药学服务方面存在困难。药剂师和医生提出的加强与这些患者沟通的策略可能有助于提高所提供药学服务的质量。
