Um Irene S, Armour Carol, Krass Ines, Gill Timothy, Chaar Betty B
Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney, NSWProfessor of Pharmacology, Associate Dean and Career Development, Northern Clinical School and Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, NSWAssociate Professor & Principal Research Fellow, Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise and Eating Disorders, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Health Expect. 2014 Aug;17(4):579-92. doi: 10.1111/j.1369-7625.2012.00788.x. Epub 2012 May 31.
Obesity is a public health challenge faced worldwide. Community pharmacists may be well placed to manage Australia's obesity problem owing to their training, accessibility and trustworthiness. However, determining consumers' needs is vital to the development of any new services or the evaluation of existing services.
To explore Australian consumers' perspectives regarding weight management services in the community pharmacy setting, including their past experiences and willingness to pay for a specific pharmacy-based service.
An online cross-sectional consumer survey was distributed through a marketing research company. The survey instrument comprised open-ended and closed questions exploring consumers' experiences of and preferences for weight management services in pharmacy. It also included an attitudinal measure, the Consumer Attitude to Pharmacy Weight Management Services (CAPWMS) scale.
A total of 403 consumers from New South Wales, Australia, completed the survey.
The majority of respondents had previously not sought a pharmacist's advice regarding weight management. Those who had previously consulted a pharmacist were more willing to pay for and support pharmacy-based services in the future. Most consumers considered pharmacists' motivations to provide advice related to gaining profit from selling a product and expressed concerns about the perceived conflicts of interest. Participants also perceived pharmacists as lacking expertise and time.
Although Australian consumers were willing to seek pharmacists' advice about weight management, they perceived several barriers to the provision of weight management services in community pharmacy. If barriers are addressed, community pharmacies could be a viable and accessible setting to manage obesity.
肥胖是全球面临的一项公共卫生挑战。社区药剂师因其所受培训、可及性和可信度，可能非常适合管理澳大利亚的肥胖问题。然而，确定消费者的需求对于任何新服务的开发或现有服务的评估都至关重要。
探讨澳大利亚消费者对社区药房体重管理服务的看法，包括他们过去的经历以及为特定药房服务付费的意愿。
通过一家市场研究公司开展了一项在线横断面消费者调查。调查工具包括开放式和封闭式问题，用以探究消费者在药房体重管理服务方面的经历和偏好。还包括一项态度测量指标，即消费者对药房体重管理服务的态度（CAPWMS）量表。
来自澳大利亚新南威尔士州的403名消费者完成了该调查。
大多数受访者此前未就体重管理寻求药剂师的建议。那些曾咨询过药剂师的人未来更愿意为基于药房的服务付费并给予支持。大多数消费者认为药剂师提供建议的动机与通过销售产品获利有关，并对感知到的利益冲突表示担忧。参与者还认为药剂师缺乏专业知识和时间。
尽管澳大利亚消费者愿意就体重管理寻求药剂师的建议，但他们认为社区药房提供体重管理服务存在若干障碍。如果这些障碍得到解决，社区药房可能成为管理肥胖的一个可行且可及的场所。
