Manchester Pharmacy Education Conference 2018

Background: With the move to a patient-centred model of pharmaceutical care, pharmacists need to move from communication styles which focus on transmission of information to one that adopts a more consultative model (Sepucha and Ozanne, 2010; Kaae et al., 2012; Murad et al., 2014; Patrícia Antunes et al., 2015; Kerr et al., 2017; Wolters et al., 2017; Naughton, 2018). The M.Pharm. programme at the University of Strathclyde has partnered with Roleplay UK, a commercial organisation, to run workshops for students in the first three years of study. Communication trainers facilitate sessions using actor-led forum theatre: students redirect scenes containing patient consultations. Students learn about their own communication style before demonstrating how to flex this to communicate with others. In the latter sessions, students role-play consultations and interview situations with actors. This study was undertaken to evaluate students’ perceptions of the workshops. Method: Students answered open-ended questions online at the end of workshops from 2014-2018. All responses were imported into NVivo 11, where coding – open, axial, and selective - was performed to identify salient themes. Results: Four hundred and sixty-eight students responded (response rate 42%): individual students may have responded to more than one questionnaire. Two themes emerged: (1) benefits and effective characteristics of the workshop, and (2) areas for improvement. Most students felt the workshop was helpful in teaching them verbal and non-verbal communication skills, and how to flex to different patient characteristics. The live scenarios, which facilitated active participation and application of skills learnt, were also useful as preparation for future roles as pharmacists. Immediate feedback was appreciated. There were requests for more varied scenarios involving different patient groups, and more opportunities to participate in the role-plays. Students requested smaller groups, which would encourage participation from those who were reticent, and allow more personal feedback. Conclusion: Many current communication skills programmes are ineffective in equipping future pharmacists as they are didactic in nature, do not mimic real-world situations, and do not provide feedback to students. This model provides one example of an effective method