No description available.

An information processing model was developed to describe how information used by pharmacists in providing pharmacy services is processed. The process is hypothesized to be sequential and to consist of perception, recognition, judgment, decision making and response control components which continuously interact and are influenced by memory, particularly long term memory. Information in long term memory was hypothesized to be organized according to the perceived typicality of the stimulus. A laboratory methodology using a microcomputer was developed to test the effect of typicality on three of the process components, recognition, judgment and decision making. Three groups of ten subjects were tested, practicing pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and fourth year PharmD students. For the recognition task, subjects were shown a drug name on the computer screen then asked to indicate which of two drug names, one typical and one atypical, was shown. Pharmacists' responses were most likely to be biased toward the typical drug, technicians' responses were less likely to be biased and students' responses were least likely to be biased. For the judgment task, subjects were shown a drug name and a brief description of a typical or atypical patient; subjects were asked to indicate whether the drug was likely to be appropriate therapy for the patient. Pharmacists' responses were most likely to be biased by the perceived typicality of the patient, technicians, less likely and students, least likely. The decision task was identical to the judgment task except subjects were asked to indicate whether they would dispense the prescription as written or whether they would contact the prescriber. Pharmacists' choices were most likely to be influenced by the perceived typicality of the patient, and technicians were less likely to be influenced by typicality. Students' responses appeared not to be influenced at all. When between groups comparisons were made on difference scores, only the comparison between pharmacists and students on the decision task was significant. No statistically significant differences were found on the reaction time dependent variable for any of the subject groups.

No description available.

Mini-dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Homeopathy, Durban Institute of Technology, 2006. / It was my perception, after having worked in the Complementary and Alternative Medicines Industry, that the knowledge and understanding of homeopathy by retail providers, was poor. Considering that pharmacies also sold over-the- counter homeopathic medicine, I felt it would be of value to do an empirical study in order to obtain more accurate data on this topic. / M

Mini-dissertation'submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Homoeopathy, Durban Institute of Technology, 2005. / Homoeopathy in South Africa is a relatively new health profession, and there seems to be limited awareness of homoeopathy amongst the public and healthcare authorities. The national health care system in South Africa is currently undergoing major restructuring, with the focus on primary health care. The homoeopathic community needs to reflect on its role in public health care. However, in order to gain acceptance and understanding from other health care professions, meaningful research needs to be conducted. There is an urgent need to investigate the views of conventional health care professionals towards homoeopathy. A survey method was employed to investigate the perceptions of homoeopathy of two major groups in the medical community in the Greater Durban area: General Practitioners (GPs) and pharmacists. The study was carried out by using a questionnaire as a measuring tool. The sample of GPs was drawn from the medical pages of the Durban Telephone Directory (October 2003/2004) and the sample of pharmacists was drawn from the Durban Yellow Pages (October 2003/2004). A total of 484 questionnaires were distributed and a total of 155 responses were received. The percentage of return of questionnaires was 32,02%. The original sample size was 370 for GPs and 114 for pharmacists. A total of 97 GPs and 58 pharmacists responded. The response rate was 26,22% for GPs and 50,87% for pharmacists. / M

Thesis (M.Tech.: Homoeopathy)-Dept. of Homeopathy, Durban Institute of Technology, 2006 xvii, 168 leaves / It was my perception, after having worked in the Complementary and Alternative Medicines Industry, that the knowledge and understanding of homeopathy by retail providers, was poor. Considering that pharmacies also sold over-the- counter homeopathic medicine, I felt it would be of value to do an empirical study in order to obtain more accurate data on this topic.

Thesis (M.Tech.: Chiropractic)-Dept. of Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, 2008. ix, 106 leaves / Pharmacists are seen as a trustworthy source of advice and information to many people. Their accessibility, approachability and availability enable them numerous opportunities to offer health education and advice in an informal environment. Patient use of and demand for complementary and alternative practitioners including chiropractors, continues to increase, however there have been no studies to determine the extent of the pharmacists knowledge and perceptions/attitudes towards these alternative practitioners. Thus the purpose of this study was to determine the current perceptions, attitudes and knowledge of selected South African pharmacists with respect to the chiropractic profession. This will provide a basis for future studies, as well as a knowledge base to facilitate greater understanding and co-operation between pharmacists and chiropractors.

No description available.

Thesis (M.Tech.: Chiropractic)-Dept. of Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, 2008. ix, 106 leaves / Pharmacists are seen as a trustworthy source of advice and information to many people. Their accessibility, approachability and availability enable them numerous opportunities to offer health education and advice in an informal environment. Patient use of and demand for complementary and alternative practitioners including chiropractors, continues to increase, however there have been no studies to determine the extent of the pharmacists knowledge and perceptions/attitudes towards these alternative practitioners. Thus the purpose of this study was to determine the current perceptions, attitudes and knowledge of selected South African pharmacists with respect to the chiropractic profession. This will provide a basis for future studies, as well as a knowledge base to facilitate greater understanding and co-operation between pharmacists and chiropractors.

Increasing numbers of medicines are being used by pregnant South African women in the public sector during pregnancy, for the treatment of different biomedical and supernatural disease states and conditions. The motivation for the research is to support the development of more local pregnancy registries in order to strengthen evidence for the safety and efficacy of medicines used in pregnancy. A mixed methods approach was used. Women in their ninth month of pregnancy in a public sector setting, and four community pharmacists were identified. The women who met the inclusion criteria were recruited. One in-depth semi-structured interview was conducted with each woman before giving birth and data on their pregnancy outcomes were collected after labour. Coincidentally, the mother of one of the participants was found to be a traditional healer. She was also interviewed on the topic. A structured questionnaire was administered to the pharmacists. Ten pregnant women between the ages of 19 to 39 who had used or were using a traditional medicine during the pregnancy were recruited. All the participants had had at least one antenatal check up during their pregnancy with one having attended five times. No abnormal results were reported from any of the check ups or tests done during the visits. All of them had been to school and had at least Standard 8/Grade 10 education. Ten babies were seen between one and four days postpartum and no birth defects were obvious or were reported for any of them. The traditional healer did not provide additional information to what the women had said and confirmed that some of the practices the women reported were known to her as traditional medicine practices. All four pharmacists indicated that they considered complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) to be “somewhat effective” and sold them at their pharmacies although none of them were aware of whether or not they were registered with the MCC. None of the pharmacists appeared to have an in-depth knowledge of traditional, complementary and alternative medicines (TCAMs). All four pharmacists said that it is important to have a basic understanding of TCAMs before using them, although they did not agree on the reasons for this. All of them felt that pharmacists have a professional responsibility to provide information on TCAMs (especially herbal preparations) and two felt that providing this information is part of a medical doctors’ responsibility. No harm from taking TCAMs could be shown. However herbal medicines have numerous ingredients some of which are unknown and taking these medicines is risky. The pharmacists in this sample were unsure whether they were accessing unreliable CAM information. Reliable sources of information and reference materials on CAMs to assist pharmacists and other healthcare professionals are needed. The apparent widespread use of TCAM in pregnancy indicates a need for documentation about its efficacy and safety. The establishing of TCAM pregnancy registries should seriously be considered. Due to the increase in CAM use, CAM education during pharmacists’ training as well as continuing professional development (CPD) in CAM for pharmacists in practice should be encouraged.