Faculty Mentor Perspectives of a Formal Mentoring Program for Student Pharmacists: A Qualitative Study

Objective: To describe pharmacy faculty perspectives on participating in a formal mentoring program for student pharmacists. Methods: This qualitative study used ten, 45 to 60 minute semi-structured interviews conducted in November and December, 2012 with faculty mentors sampled randomly by strata of on-site off-site positions at a single public university college of pharmacy. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were coded using an inductively created consensus code list. The research team iteratively grouped codes into themes, developed summaries, and identified representative quotes. Results: Analysis of interviews produced three main themes. Mentor interaction was described as having an investigative or responsive orientation, which influenced mentor actions and perspectives for the relationship with the student mentee. Program structure and concerns included a perceived absence of clear program objectives. Mentor response to feedback focused on 3 feedback sources: administrators, peers, and students. Conclusions: Overall, faculty mentors in this program had different approaches to, expectations for, and experiences in their formal mentoring program participation. These differences are initial descriptions of mentor approaches toward mentoring interactions by faculty in a formal mentoring program. Colleges of pharmacy leaders and administrators may benefit from more clearly specifying and communicating program objectives in order to achieve results for mentees, mentors, and the organization.   Type: Original Researc

Faculty Mentor Perspectives of a Formal Mentoring Program for Student Pharmacists: A Qualitative Study

Objective: To describe pharmacy faculty perspectives on participating in a formal mentoring program for student pharmacists. Methods: This qualitative study used ten, 45 to 60 minute semi-structured interviews conducted in November and December, 2012 with faculty mentors sampled randomly by strata of on-site off-site positions at a single public university college of pharmacy. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were coded using an inductively created consensus code list. The research team iteratively grouped codes into themes, developed summaries, and identified representative quotes. Results: Analysis of interviews produced three main themes. Mentor interaction was described as having an investigative or responsive orientation, which influenced mentor actions and perspectives for the relationship with the student mentee. Program structure and concerns included a perceived absence of clear program objectives. Mentor response to feedback focused on 3 feedback sources: administrators, peers, and students. Conclusions: Overall, faculty mentors in this program had different approaches to, expectations for, and experiences in their formal mentoring program participation. These differences are initial descriptions of mentor approaches toward mentoring interactions by faculty in a formal mentoring program. Colleges of pharmacy leaders and administrators may benefit from more clearly specifying and communicating program objectives in order to achieve results for mentees, mentors, and the organization.   Type: Original Researc

Older Adult Perceptions of a Self-reported Medication Risk Questionaire: A Focus Group Study

Background: Medication therapy management (MTM) has been shown to resolve medication-related problems and decrease health care expenses. Public and private health insurers, providers, and other stakeholders are looking for ways to involve patients in the MTM process. One option is to engage patients through the use of a medication risk questionnaire. Objective: To investigate older adults' perceptions of completing a medication risk questionnaire and receiving a rating of their risk for medication-related problems. Methods: Four, 75 to 90 minute focus groups were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide and copies of a medication risk questionnaire to collect qualitative data from 36 community dwelling older adults in Iowa, USA. Sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed thematically using an iterative process. Results: The thematic analysis yielded a general theme of comprehensive medication reviews, and two themes on the medication risk questionnaire: "process and items" and "risk category reactions." Overall, participants were unfamiliar with pharmacist services beyond counseling. They were open to the questionnaire, but suggested it would be more useful as a topic for discussion with a provider than to screen patients. Despite their medication risk rating, most did not express interest in seeking a comprehensive medication review based on the result of the questionnaire as they considered themselves at low risk for problems. Conclusions: Using a medication risk questionnaire as a topic for discussion could provide health insurance plans or providers an opportunity to increase beneficiary familiarity with MTM. These beneficiary perspectives may be useful to health plan administrators and MTM providers as they pursue new ways to involve patients in the medication management process.   Type: Student Projec

Pharmacy professionals’ preparedness to use Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) behaviors

Background: There is a need to train healthcare professionals to provide first aid to people experiencing a mental health crisis. Research testing the association between Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training and the use of MHFA behaviors could provide evidence of program effectiveness in the pharmacy setting. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to measure the preparedness of pharmacy professionals to function in a MHFA role, and compare preparedness and the use of MHFA behaviors based on demographic characteristics. Methods: Pharmacists and student pharmacists attended MHFA training under a multi-state pharmacy initiative in 2018. An anonymous electronic survey was administered to 227 participants using 4 contacts in May to June, 2019. The survey evaluated if participants had recommended MHFA to others, their preparedness to engage in MHFA behaviors (13 items), and their frequency of performing a set of MHFA behaviors (7 items). Descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis, and ANOVA were used to describe the sample and compare these variables across groups. Results: The analysis was based on 96 responses (42.3%). Almost all respondents (96%) had recommended MHFA training to others. Respondents reported that the training program prepared them to provide a range of MHFA behaviors for multiple mental health conditions, particularly for depression and anxiety. Participants most often reported asking about a distressed mood and listening non-judgmentally. Almost half of participants had asked someone if they were considering suicide and a similar percent had referred someone considering suicide to resources. Those reporting the highest levels of preparedness engaged in significantly more MHFA behaviors than those with lower levels of preparedness (p=0.017). Preparedness and use of MHFA behaviors were not significantly associated with respondent demographic characteristics. Conclusion: These data suggest that pharmacy professionals who had MHFA training felt prepared to engage in MHFA and many used behaviors like asking about suicide and making referrals since being trained in MHFA. Research is warranted to better understand what makes someone feel maximally prepared to use MHFA behaviors compared to lower feelings of preparedness

Evaluation of a Revised Home Medication Experience Questionnaire (HOME-Qv2)

The Home Medication Experience Questionnaire (HOME-Qv2) was developed to identify patient medication experience issues for pharmacist intervention. The study objectives were to (1) evaluate patient responses to the HOME-Qv2 medication experience questionnaire and (2) describe recommendations made by pharmacists in response to the identified medication experience issues and adoption of recommendations. The study sample was comprised of older adults, 55 years and above, who have one or more chronic illnesses for which they routinely take 4+ prescription medications. The HOME-Qv2 was administered to patients and a pharmacist made recommendations based on the responses. At 3 months, the research team followed up with participants via telephone, during which the HOME-Qv2 was again administered and participants shared their adoption of recommendations. Twenty-four patients completed the questionnaire, and twenty-one were available for follow-up. At 3 months, there was a significant decrease in patient self-reported HOME-Qv2 medication experience issues. There were 31 interventions/recommendations provided by the pharmacists, and 64.5% reported adopted. The HOME-Qv2 appears to facilitate patient disclosure of medication experience issues and informed targeted pharmacist recommendations

Medicare Part D plan-selection experience: qualitative findings from a national cross-sectional survey

Background: A variety of services exit to assist eligible beneficiaries select Medicare Part D insurance plans; however, selecting an optimal plan remains a challenge. While patients would benefit from evaluating and switching their Medicare Part D plan on a yearly basis, few choose to do so. Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the Medicare Part D plan selection experience across all US states. Methods: This was a qualitative analysis using data from a cross-sectional Qualtrics panel survey administered in January 2022. Descriptive statistics were generated for demographic and patient-specific items for individuals who provided open-ended survey item responses. Open-coding and content analysis were used to analyze responses to the open-ended survey item. Results: Overall, 540 responses were received, with the largest number of responses from Florida (11%, 61). A total of 101 respondents (18.7%) of survey respondents provided open-ended comments. Qualitative analysis identified four response categories: Benefit design, Plan information and selection assistance, Plan Switching, and Plan-selection experience. Conclusions: Overall, participants expressed frustrations with high costs and plan restrictions. Many participants needed plan-selection assistance, with some individuals switching plans each year. Recent legislation may address difficulties related to medication costs; however, additional focus on resources and educational interventions may improve the Medicare Part D experience

What drives job satisfaction among community pharmacists? An application of relative importance analysis

Background: Pharmacy employers want to improve pharmacists' job satisfaction, but ratings of job satisfaction are highly subjective, as evaluating job satisfaction involves weighing simultaneously the importance of multiple correlated determinants that are often perceived unequally. Objectives: To 1) describe the application of relative importance analysis in estimating the predictive ability of correlated determinants of job satisfaction, and to rank the determinants in order of relative importance, and 2) explore how the perceived relative importance of job satisfaction predictors may vary across community pharmacists' age, gender, and work setting categories. Methods: Data were obtained from the 2019 National Pharmacy Workforce Survey administered to 96,110 licensed U.S. pharmacists. Multiple regression analysis (MR) and relative weight analysis (RWA) were used to assess the predictive ability of determinants to explain pharmacists' job satisfaction. Subgroup analyses were performed to explore variations in the perceived relative importance of predictors across pharmacists' age, gender and work setting categories. Results: Over the entire sample of community pharmacists, no personal experience of workplace discrimination [RW = 0.0613, rank = 1] and less reported engagement in advanced dispensing activities [RW = 0.0235, rank = 2] were most associated with greater job satisfaction, as both predictors jointly accounted for 67.5% of the predicted criterion variance (R2). Pharmacists' compensation was observed to have the lowest perceived relative importance for predicting job satisfaction [RW = 0.0005, rank = 6], accounting for 0.5% of R2. Between-group comparisons showed that, no personal experience of workplace discrimination had the highest perceived relative importance for job satisfaction across pharmacists' age groups, among women, and across most work settings except small chain pharmacies. Within-group comparisons showed that pharmacists' compensation was significantly more important than professional interactions (ΔRW(PC-PPI) 0.2900 [0.0637, 0.5360]) for job satisfaction among pharmacists in large chain pharmacies, while patient-care services was significantly more important than compensation for job satisfaction in independent (ΔRW(PPS-PC) 0.1761 [0.0017, 0.5980]) and health system retail pharmacists (ΔRW(PPS-PC) 0.4190 [0.0444, 0.8303]). Conclusions: Relative importance analysis corroborated multiple regression and provided a more interpretable presentation of variable influence on community pharmacists job satisfaction as the importance of personal and workplace characteristics in how pharmacists evaluate their job satisfaction varied across age, gender and work setting categories