JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Community pharmacists confront dual burdens by expanding the scope of pharmaceutical practices and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The expanded roles of community pharmacies requested by the community have been accelerating. Furthermore, community pharmacies have to develop new functions in primary care to address the pandemic.

Objective:

This study aims to assess the perceived roles and functions of community pharmacies during the pandemic and to explore their updated roles after the pandemic.

Methods:

We developed a self-completed web-based questionnaire survey for 1,000 adults aged above 19 years old. The questionnaires were composed of three sections: roles and functions of the community pharmacy during the pandemic and updated roles of the community pharmacy in disasters. The survey was conducted by a survey agency from October 2 to October 4, 2022. Stratified large sampling by age, gender, and place of residence was used to represent the entire population in South Korea. Each question in three sections was rated on a 5-point Likert scale, and the mean scores and standard deviation of each item were reported.

Results:

Out of 1,000 respondents, 418 had a history of COVID-19 and 639 had a family pharmacy. Assigning specific roles and functions to community pharmacies contribute to a positive assessment by the public toward the community pharmacy. Having a family pharmacy was consistently associated with positive assessments. Regarding the roles of the community pharmacy, respondents gave higher scores for community pharmacies that had responded appropriately (3.66) and had provided continuous pharmaceutical services (3.67) during the pandemic, and the pandemic had served as an opportunity to recognize the role of community pharmacies positively (3.59). Respondents perceived that community pharmacies have collaborated with general practitioners and health authorities during the pandemic. However, they have not functioned appropriately in terms of knowledge. The mean score of the four domains in the functions of the community pharmacies was in the order of collaboration (3.66), communication (3.57), responsiveness (3.54), and knowledge (3.41).

Conclusions:

Dual burdens require community pharmacies to expand and/or update their roles and functions in primary care. The pandemic resulted in an interprofessional collaboration between community pharmacists and general practitioners. The family pharmacy would be a useful platform to embed community pharmacies into the comprehensive case management of patients.