Background: Although many pharmacies sell natural health products (NHPs), there is no clear definition as to the responsibilities (if any) of pharmacists towards these products.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore and compare pharmacy and stakeholder leaders’ perceptions of pharmacists’ professional NHP responsibilities.
Methods: Semi-structured key informant interviews were conducted with pharmacy leaders and stakeholder leaders representing: consumers, complementary and alternative medicine practitioners, conventional healthcare practitioners, and industry across Canada.
Results: Nearly all participants believed safety monitoring was a key responsibility of pharmacists. One challenge identified was pharmacists’ general lack of NHP knowledge. Stakeholder leaders did not expect pharmacists to be NHP experts, but should have a basic level of education on NHPs. Many pharmacy leaders seemed unfamiliar with current pharmacy NHP policies.
Conclusion: Participants described pharmacists’ professional responsibilities for NHPs as similar to those for over-the-counter drugs. More awareness of existing NHP-related pharmacy policies is needed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/11158 |
| Date | 30 July 2008 |
| Creators | Olatunde, Shade |
| Contributors | Boon, Heather |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 657475 bytes, application/pdf |
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