Effects of a national medication education program in Taiwan to change the public's perceptions of the roles and functions of pharmacists

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of a national medication education program on public's perceptions of the roles and functions of pharmacists in Taiwan.MethodsThis was a single group, pre- and post-comparison study. The subjects were 955 community residents enrolled in the Community Education Program on Medication Use (CEPMU) between September 2003 and January 2004 in Taiwan. The program was a pharmacist-facilitated national education program implemented at 31 community universities nationwide. The education program consisted of 14 lectures that were delivered over a 4-month period. A questionnaire was administered before and after the program to survey the subjects on their usual drug-information sources, their evaluation of the credibility of the drug-information sources, and their perceptions of the roles and functions of pharmacists in Taiwan. Paired t-test was used to analyze the difference between pre- and post-tests with a significant level set at 0.05 a priori.ResultsAt the end of the program, the subjects were more likely to request drug information from healthcare professionals as compared to the baseline (p < 0.05). They also had more confidence in the information provided by the community pharmacists (p < 0.05) and had a better understanding of the roles and functions of pharmacists (p < 0.05).ConclusionsThe national medication education program facilitated by pharmacists helps to direct the subjects to pharmacists or other healthcare givers for drug information. It also improves their perceptions of the roles and functions of pharmacists in Taiwan.Practice implicationsPharmacists’ proactive participation in health education helped society to appreciate the roles and functions of pharmacists as knowledge workers in terms of drug information providers and safeguards of drug use.