Development of a Communication Learning Program for Pharmacists

Pharmacists are required to form a partnership with their patients in order to support their recuperation; however, pharmacists have few opportunities to learn how to acquire high-quality communication skills while providing patient-centered care. Therefore, we created a new simulated patient (SP) participatory learning program using the Database of Individual Patient Experience-Japan (DIPEx-Japan), and verified its effectiveness and influence.The program comprised three stages: orientation, SP sessions plus general discussions using a video and a transcript of the SP session. For the SP sessions, we set up 10-min role-play situations between the SPs and the participants. After the role-play, the participants reflected on and discussed their communication skills during the role-play in small groups. General discussions with all the SPs and participants were conducted, based on the video and the transcript, to deepen the participants＇ understanding of the communication. The program＇s effectiveness and influence was evaluated using a 30-item questionnaire survey of awareness and behavior regarding pharmacist-patient communication. The results of the investigation were analyzed by student＇s t-test, analysis of variance, and correlation analysis. One hundred fourteen pharmacists participated in the program. Comparison of the responses before and one month after the study showed improvement in both awareness (P < 0.05) and behavior (P < 0.01). Our new SP participatory learning program focusing on the patient＇s background, thoughts, and feelings was able to improve awareness and behavior among pharmacists. Our program improved the communication skills of pharmacists and is expected to contribute to better pharmacist-patient communication