A Qualitative Study

Background: Social media is frequently used by consumers and health care professionals; however, our knowledge about its use in a professional capacity by pharmacists is limited. Objective: Our aim was to investigate the professional use of social media by pharmacists. Methods: In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with practicing pharmacists (N=31) from nine countries. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed. Results: Wikipedia, YouTube, and Facebook were the main social media platforms used. Professional use of social media included networking with peers, discussion of health and professional topics, accessing and sharing health and professional information, job searching, and professional promotion. Wikipedia was the participants’ first choice when seeking information about unfamiliar topics, or topics that were difficult to search for. Very few pharmacy-related contributions to Wikipedia were reported. YouTube, a video-sharing platform, was used for self-education. University lectures, “how-to” footage, and professionally made videos were commonly watched. No professional contribution was made to YouTube. Facebook, a general social networking site, was used for professional networking, promotion of achievements, and job advertisements. It also afforded engagement in professional discussions and information sharing among peers. Conclusions: Participants used social media in a professional capacity, specifically for accessing and sharing health and professional information among peers. Pharmacists, as medicines experts, should take a leading role in contributing to health information dissemination in these user-friendly virtual environments, to reach not only other health care professionals but also health consumers. J Med Internet Res 2016;18(9):e258 doi:10.2196/jmir.570

Students' conception of local responses to global problems for a more peaceful and sustainable world: A collaborative education project between Brazil, Canada, Qatar, and New Zealand

Background: The concept of global citizenship aims to prepare learners to be able to function and be competitive within a global environment. Successful learners may effectively “think globally” but “act locally,” aiming to contribute to positive global change. Objective: The goal of this project was to develop research-informed curricular content for global citizenship tailored to pharmacy students using a pre-established pedagogical framework. The intended learning outcome for the content was for students to “generate local responses to global problems for a more peaceful and sustainable world.”. Methods: This study occurred over three phases. Phase 1 consisted of semi-structured interviews with practicing pharmacists in Brazil (n = 4), Canada (n = 4), New Zealand (n = 4), and Qatar (n = 4) to identify global issues for case development. Phase 2 consisted of pilot testing developed cases from Phase 1 via individual interviews with target students in Canada (n = 2) and a focus group in New Zealand (n = 5). Phase 3 consisted of implementation of a 1.5-hours teaching event in New Zealand using the refined case material and formative assessment of final-year pharmacy students (n = 120). Results: Phase 1 resulted in five case scenarios (antimicrobial resistance, drug shortages, ocean pollution, climate change, and rise of nationalism) across three categories (global health and wellbeing, climate and environment, and geopolitics and power) that were tested and refined in Phase 2. Phase 3 resulted in student groups being able to achieve the intended learning outcome on a median of 4 (range, 2-5) of the developed cases. Students' interventions included new dispensing models, use of technology, community engagement, education initiatives, and others. Conclusion: Findings support the notion that when tasked to “think globally,” students are able to “act locally” by designing pharmacy practice interventions to reduce the impact of political, environmental, and health-related global problems.This study was funded by an Internationalisation of the Curriculum Grant from the University of Otago. Open access publishing facilitated by University of Otago, as part of the Wiley - University of Otago agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians

Quality evaluation of compounded capsules

The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of compounded capsules of different drugs for chronic diseases. It were assessed two samples, from two different pharmacies, for each of the following drugs: ranitidine 150 mg, methyldopa 250 mg, enalapril maleate 20 mg, fluoxetine hydrochloride 20 mg, propranolol hydrochloride 40 mg, and furosemide 40 mg. The assays of mean weight, content determination, content uniformity and dissolution were performed according to Brazilian Pharmacopoeia. All samples were approved in the assay of mean weight, and the samples M1 and Flu1 had failed in the assay of content determination. In the test of uniformity of dosage units the samples M1, Flu1, E1, E2 and Flu2 had failed. Only the samples M2, P1, P2, F1 and F2 were accepted in all pharmacopoeial tests, evidencing that the others did not achieve the minimum requirements to ensure safety, quality and efficacy of the drugs.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

ASPECTOS REGULATÓRIOS DE PRODUTOS DE HIGIENE PESSOAL, COSMÉTICOS E PERFUMES: REVISÃO DE NORMAS NACIONAIS APLICÁVEIS

Levando-se em consideração que os produtos de higiene pessoal, cosméticos e perfumes possuem ampla utilização pela população, faz-se necessário que as Autoridades Regulatórias estabeleçam uma série de requisitos técnicos, com o objetivo de garantir aos consumidores o acesso a produtos seguros, eficazes e de qualidade. Além disso, com a relevância econômica no segmento de Higiene Pessoal, Perfumaria e Cosméticos, observa-se a crescente abertura de empresas, que precisam realizar o processo de regularização sanitária do seu estabelecimento e produtos fabricados. O objetivo deste trabalho consistiu em realizar o levantamento dos requisitos sanitários aplicáveis a esta categoria de produtos, a partir da interpretação de instrumentos normativos e materiais de apoio, disponibilizados em canais oficiais da Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (ANVISA) e da Imprensa Nacional (Diário Oficial da União). A partir da revisão de documentos oficiais, foi possível estabelecer um fluxo regulatório geral, que pode servir como direcionamento para abertura de empresas fabricantes e regularização de seus produtos, com base nas legislações aplicáveis para as atividades desenvolvidas

The use of social media by pharmacists and consumers

Social media (SM) platforms are popular communication channels, including in health. This research aimed to explore how pharmacists used SM in a professional capacity (including patient care) and how consumers used SM for health-related purposes. Three qualitative studies were conducted: interviews with pharmacists, a case study of a medicines information service delivered via Facebook (FB), and focus groups with consumers. All interviews and focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analysed. Wikipedia, YouTube, and FB were the main SM used by pharmacists. Wikipedia and YouTube were used for self-education, while YouTube videos were used to support patient counselling. Pharmacists did not provide individualized patient SM services. On FB, they networked with peers; accessed, shared and discussed professional topics. They did not friend consumers but occasionally provided information or corrected misinformation for friends/followers. Most participants mixed professional and personal online activities. FB was used by a not-for-profit organization to deliver a free-of-charge public individualized medicines information service to consumers, called the Pharmacist Hour. This one-hour weekly service with a question-and-answer format had 226 questions in the first year, commonly on adverse effects, treatment options, and drug interactions. Consumers used several SM: blogs, FB, Wikipedia, and YouTube. They obtained and provided informational, social, and emotional support. Consumers did not interact with healthcare professionals (HCPs), only with peers. SM improved participants’ knowledge, communication, and empowerment. They prepared for consultations and were more assertive in decision-making processes, particularly treatment choices. Despite reporting improvements in consumer-HCP relationships, most consumers felt HCPs did not support their online activities. Despite pharmacists using SM professionally and consumers using it for health, an online professional relationship was not observed. Thus, there is opportunity for pharmacists to engage SM in delivering health care. The provision of a medicines information service via FB described in this thesis can serve as an example of how SM could be used to connect pharmacists and consumers online

Rheumatic diseases and the role of the pharmacist: A scoping review protocol

Pharmacological treatment is one of several therapeutic options for rheumatic diseases, and in this context, the pharmacist plays a relevant and little-explored role. This study aims to map the available published research about interventions to improve the effective and safe use of medication in people with rheumatic diseases carried out by pharmacists or in the context of pharmacy services and identify potential literature gaps in this scientific field. This scoping review will be conducted according to Joanna Briggs Institute Methodology and reported using the PRISMA extension for scoping reviews

Mapping community pharmacy services in Brazil: a scoping review

The delivery of clinical pharmacy services has been growing in Brazilian community pharmacies, and it is necessary to have a comprehensive understanding of the topic. This scoping review aimed to provide an overview of Brazilian studies about clinical pharmacy services in community pharmacies. Original research articles, with no restriction of time, study design, or patient’s health condition, were included. Searches were conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Scielo, and Lilacs. Two reviewers conducted the screening, full-text reading, and data extraction independently. ROB and ROBINS-I were used for the assessment of quality. Charts and tables were built to summarise the data. Seventy-two articles were included. A diversity of study designs, number of participants, terms used, and outcomes was found. São Paulo and Sergipe States had the highest number of studies (n=10). Pharmacists’ interventions were not fully reported in 65% of studies, and most studies presented an unclear risk of bias. Studies were very diverse, impairing the comparisons between the results and hindering their reproducibility. This review suggests using guidelines and checklists for better structuration of pharmacists’ interventions as well as reporting results and measuring fidelity in future research