Unit of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Mons, Avenue du Champ de Mars 25, Building 6, 7000, Mons, Belgium.
Unit of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Mons, Place du Parc 14, 7000, Mons, Belgium.
Int J Clin Pharm. 2024 Jun;46(3):665-674. doi: 10.1007/s11096-023-01684-9. Epub 2024 Feb 26.
Visual impairment is a disability that can have a significant impact on the ability to take medication safely. As a result, pharmacists must adjust their practice to provide targeted and adapted support for this type of patient.
The aims of the present study were (1) to illustrate the usual clinical practice of community pharmacists to support the optimisation of medication use in visually impaired patients, and (2) to identify solutions to improve pharmaceutical care for visually impaired patients.
Semi-structured interviews with 18 French-speaking community pharmacists were conducted via videoconference in Belgium. Participants were recruited on a voluntary basis and through a snowball method. An interview guide was developed based on literature review. Interviews were carried out until theoretical saturation of the data, recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Data were organised by NVivo Software.
Four themes were identified: community pharmacists' training, identification of visually impaired patients by the pharmacist, communication with visually impaired patients and their proxies, and provision of appropriate pharmaceutical care. Participants stated that they had not received any training regarding visual impairment. They described that they did not always know how to recognise visually impaired patients and that communication was often difficult.
This qualitative study has highlighted a lack of knowledge and skills among community pharmacists regarding visual impairment. One possible solution could be to develop recommendations and tools to improve the care of these patients.
视力障碍是一种会严重影响安全用药能力的残疾。因此，药剂师必须调整他们的实践，为这类患者提供有针对性和适应性的支持。
本研究的目的是（1）说明社区药剂师的常规临床实践，以支持优化视力障碍患者的药物使用，（2）确定改善视力障碍患者药物治疗的解决方案。
通过视频会议在比利时对 18 名讲法语的社区药剂师进行了半结构化访谈。参与者是自愿参加的，并通过滚雪球的方式招募的。根据文献回顾制定了访谈指南。访谈进行到数据理论饱和，记录、逐字转录并使用主题分析进行分析。数据由 NVivo 软件组织。
确定了四个主题：社区药剂师的培训、药剂师识别视力障碍患者、与视力障碍患者及其代理人的沟通以及提供适当的药物治疗。参与者表示，他们没有接受过任何关于视力障碍的培训。他们描述说，他们并不总是知道如何识别视力障碍患者，而且沟通常常很困难。
这项定性研究突出了社区药剂师在视力障碍方面知识和技能的缺乏。一个可能的解决方案是制定建议和工具，以改善对这些患者的护理。
