Pharmaceutical care for visually impaired patients: a qualitative study of community pharmacists' needs and professional experience.

BACKGROUND

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.

AIM

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.

METHOD

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.

RESULTS

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.

CONCLUSION

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.