Dabrera Gavin, Pinson David, Whiteman Steve
NHS Greenwich, Public Health & Wellbeing, London, UK.
J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care. 2011 Jan;37(1):17-21. doi: 10.1136/jfprhc.2010.0003.
The National Chlamydia Screening Programme offers opportunistic screening for genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection to young people aged 15-24 years in England. Screening packs are available in many different settings, including community sexual health clinics, colleges and community pharmacies. This article focuses on screening through community pharmacies. Currently, pharmacies provide only a small proportion of screening nationally despite the assumption that community pharmacies are an ideal location to undertake chlamydia screening. This article reports on semistructured interviews undertaken with a sample of 10 pharmacists offering chlamydia screening in Greenwich, London, UK in order to understand the issues facing pharmacists in offering chlamydia screening.
Participants had good awareness of the importance of chlamydia infection and the need for screening. The majority were supportive of it, although some were concerned about approaching some younger individuals. Many pharmacists only raised opportunistically the provision of free chlamydia screening when customers were attending for emergency hormonal contraception. The pharmacists felt it was more difficult to discuss the subject of chlamydia screening with customers attending for non-sexual health-related services. The local chlamydia screening programme had undertaken other initiatives including mail outs. Some pharmacists had broached the subject of chlamydia screening but had discovered customers already had a screening pack at home.
These findings have highlighted challenges in opportunistically offering chlamydia screening to young people in community pharmacies. These challenges can be overcome through a combination of training and service innovation, in order to capitalise on the potential of community pharmacies to contribute to this important sexual health service.
英国国家衣原体筛查计划为英格兰15至24岁的年轻人提供生殖道沙眼衣原体感染的机会性筛查。筛查包在许多不同场所都有提供，包括社区性健康诊所、学院和社区药房。本文重点关注通过社区药房进行的筛查。尽管人们认为社区药房是进行衣原体筛查的理想场所，但目前在全国范围内，药房提供的筛查服务仅占一小部分。本文报道了对英国伦敦格林威治10名提供衣原体筛查服务的药剂师进行的半结构化访谈，以了解药剂师在提供衣原体筛查服务时面临的问题。
参与者对衣原体感染的重要性和筛查需求有良好的认识。大多数人对此表示支持，尽管有些人担心与一些较年轻的个体沟通。许多药剂师只有在顾客前来购买紧急激素避孕药时，才会顺便提及提供免费衣原体筛查服务。药剂师们觉得与前来寻求非性健康相关服务的顾客讨论衣原体筛查这个话题更加困难。当地的衣原体筛查计划还开展了其他举措，包括邮寄宣传资料。一些药剂师曾提及衣原体筛查这个话题，但发现顾客家里已经有筛查包了。
这些研究结果凸显了在社区药房为年轻人提供机会性衣原体筛查服务时所面临的挑战。通过培训和服务创新相结合，可以克服这些挑战，以便充分利用社区药房的潜力，为这项重要的性健康服务做出贡献。
