Needs Analysis And Development Of Professional Development Program For Thai Community Pharmacists

Abstract

Background: Primary care services, as recommended by the National Health Security Office (NHSO), are crucial for Thai community pharmacists. Training needs for the services and a professional development or training program however remained unexplored. Objectives: To analyze community pharmacists' training needs and develop professional development programs to meet their needs. Methods: A mixed-methods study with two phases was conducted during 2018-2019. Phase 1 was involved in the needs assessment using semi-structured interview with 10 key informants who were community pharmacists and stakeholders based on three levels (i.e. tasks, person, and organization) and needs confirmation with a self-administered questionnaire surveyed in community pharmacists.The questionnaire was specially designed, checked for content validity and posted to randomly selected pharmacists using a systematic sampling technique. Some professional development programs were then constructed according to the gaps analysis of important tasks and performance levels. Phase 2 was the pharmacists' perceptions and verification of the programs using a focus group of nine key participants who were pharmacy preceptors and practicing pharmacists. Results: Pharmacists' training needs for primary care services were qualitatively analyzed with 14 themes. The themes, together with core competencies and NHSO's specified duties, were used to draft the questionnaire containing seven domains with 44 tasks, i.e., management (8 tasks), basic services (4), follow-up plan (5), advanced services (11), health promotion for community services (5), health promotion for service users (5), and behavioral modifications (6). The response rate of the survey was 28% (365/1,289). Three development programs, i.e. depression screening, home visit, and family planning, were proposed based on the top three widest gaps between the important tasks and performance levels. For the focus group, they sll agreed on the three model programs and preferred a one-day training session. Conclusion: Training needs for primary care services were successfully analyzed and three professional development programs were proposed and accepted. Further studies are required to adjust and assess the priority training programs for community pharmacists.