Community pharmacists’ perceptions and views on their role as public health educators

Objective: To understand community pharmacists’ views and perceptions to the expansion in their roles to include provision of public health services in the UK. Introduction: The community pharmacy profession has undergone dramatic changes in the past two decades; the traditional dispensing process associated with community pharmacy now incorporates a patient centred approach. The patient centred approach entails encouraging and promoting healthy lives in the population; hence playing a role in public health. In the UK, the pharmacy contract 2005 formalized the expected level of involvement from community pharmacists in public health initiatives. Following this, pharmacists are expected to dispense medication, counsel patients on the safe use of their medication and manage minor ailments like they have been trained and also incorporate public health activities in the pharmacy. The research proposal aims to understand the views community pharmacists with regards to their new roles in public health. Methodology: Research states that mixed methodology has the potential and ability to enrich pharmacy research. The survey method has been chosen to collect data quantitatively to assess the extent to which sociodemographic factors play in role in community pharmacists’ involvement in public health initiatives. The survey will be created online and posted on social media; upon completion of the survey; participants will then be invited to take part the qualitative study. The nominal group interview has been selected to collect data qualitatively to understand the experiences and perspectives community pharmacists in their new role. Social media has made it easy for anyone with internet to connect; this will be taken advantage of and participants will be recruited using the snowballing method