Consumer perspectives of pharmacist-delivered healtn information and screening services

Objective Community pharmacy has been increasing its involvement in health promotion, especially information provision and screening, over the past decade. Little is known about how consumers view these services and there is a need to evaluate the level of consumer endorsement of this role. The aim of this study was to evaluate consumer attitudes towards pharmacist-delivered health information and screening services over time and with personal experiences of these services, as part of a standardised pharmacy programme. Method A validated instrument was administered in 1994 (n=98) and 2000 (n=58) to consumers who had not experienced a pharmacist health information and screening programme, and to a population in 2000 (n=159) who had received such a service. Comparisons of consumer attitudes were made between the unexposed 1994 and 2000 populations to test for the influence of time, and between the exposed and unexposed samples in 2000 to test for the effect of personal experience of the service. Setting Data were collected in seven community pharmacies in various non-metropolitan regions of New South Wales, Australia. Key findings Even after accounting for demographic variation between cohorts, consumers had a more positive attitude towards pharmacist screening over time, and towards both health information and screening after personal experience of these services. Conclusion Community pharmacists should be encouraged to participate more in health information provision and screening in order to take advantage of and further promote consumer endorsement of these pharmacist services.