Pharmacists' perspectives on recommending herbal medicines for acute infections: qualitative interview study
Pharmacists' perspectives on recommending herbal medicines for acute infections: qualitative interview study
Background: community pharmacists have an essential role in antimicrobial stewardship by providing self-care advice for self-limiting infections.
Aim: to explore community pharmacists' perceptions and experiences of advising patients on management of acute respiratory tract infections (RTIs) and urinary tract infections (UTIs), and to explore issues regarding use of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, including herbal medicines.
Design & setting: qualitative semi-structured interview through face-to-face or telephone.
Method: qualitative interview study with community pharmacists carried out between November 2019 and March 2020. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews, recorded and transcribed. A reflexive thematic analysis was undertaken.
Results: community pharmacists' responses from 18 interviews highlighted that they considered patients' preferences when recommending self-management strategies. Some believed that conventional OTC medications had quicker and stronger effects, while others preferred herbal OTCs as a more natural approach, particularly for less severe symptoms. Factors influencing self-care advice from pharmacists included their perception of patient preferences, nature/severity of illness, research evidence, training, commercial pressures, and patient concerns about medication cost. Pharmacists sometimes experienced challenges with language barriers, and patients' expectations of getting antibiotics. Pharmacists emphasised the importance of being trusted by their patients. There was widespread acceptance of their role in self-management advice for acute illness, and interest in the role of herbal medicines, but pharmacists did not feel confident in recommending these.
Conclusion: pharmacists are central to the management of self-limiting infections. There is a need to educate the public about appropriate use of antibiotics and provide training and support for pharmacists on self-management strategies including herbal medicine.
Hu, Xiao-Yang
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Logue, Martin
f8e94d56-b387-4bba-9fb6-0addc378713b
Maund, Emma
c9733167-eafe-44e5-b418-5ace79161402
Santer, Miriam
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Willcox, Merlin Luke
dad5b622-9ac2-417d-9b2e-aad41b64ffea
Islam, Shazab
bdea0f1d-613f-4b3c-a44e-d6c17ecb0e5e
Stokes, Tom
4c63a939-5880-467a-8068-55a524e3eaf0
Moore, Michael
1be81dad-7120-45f0-bbed-f3b0cc0cfe99
Hu, Xiao-Yang
65904b24-3775-4b14-9532-eb703a056655
Logue, Martin
f8e94d56-b387-4bba-9fb6-0addc378713b
Maund, Emma
c9733167-eafe-44e5-b418-5ace79161402
Santer, Miriam
3ce7e832-31eb-4d27-9876-3a1cd7f381dc
Willcox, Merlin Luke
dad5b622-9ac2-417d-9b2e-aad41b64ffea
Islam, Shazab
bdea0f1d-613f-4b3c-a44e-d6c17ecb0e5e
Stokes, Tom
4c63a939-5880-467a-8068-55a524e3eaf0
Moore, Michael
1be81dad-7120-45f0-bbed-f3b0cc0cfe99
Hu, Xiao-Yang, Logue, Martin, Maund, Emma, Santer, Miriam, Willcox, Merlin Luke, Islam, Shazab, Stokes, Tom and Moore, Michael
(2023)
Pharmacists' perspectives on recommending herbal medicines for acute infections: qualitative interview study.
BJGP Open.
(doi:10.3399/BJGPO.2023.0138).
Abstract
Background: community pharmacists have an essential role in antimicrobial stewardship by providing self-care advice for self-limiting infections.
Aim: to explore community pharmacists' perceptions and experiences of advising patients on management of acute respiratory tract infections (RTIs) and urinary tract infections (UTIs), and to explore issues regarding use of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, including herbal medicines.
Design & setting: qualitative semi-structured interview through face-to-face or telephone.
Method: qualitative interview study with community pharmacists carried out between November 2019 and March 2020. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews, recorded and transcribed. A reflexive thematic analysis was undertaken.
Results: community pharmacists' responses from 18 interviews highlighted that they considered patients' preferences when recommending self-management strategies. Some believed that conventional OTC medications had quicker and stronger effects, while others preferred herbal OTCs as a more natural approach, particularly for less severe symptoms. Factors influencing self-care advice from pharmacists included their perception of patient preferences, nature/severity of illness, research evidence, training, commercial pressures, and patient concerns about medication cost. Pharmacists sometimes experienced challenges with language barriers, and patients' expectations of getting antibiotics. Pharmacists emphasised the importance of being trusted by their patients. There was widespread acceptance of their role in self-management advice for acute illness, and interest in the role of herbal medicines, but pharmacists did not feel confident in recommending these.
Conclusion: pharmacists are central to the management of self-limiting infections. There is a need to educate the public about appropriate use of antibiotics and provide training and support for pharmacists on self-management strategies including herbal medicine.
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BJGPO.2023.0138.full
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Accepted/In Press date: 1 November 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 12 December 2023
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 487420
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/487420
ISSN: 2398-3795
PURE UUID: 84398993-a1b9-4b4f-af04-0b0c154f7746
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Date deposited: 20 Feb 2024 12:51
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 03:39
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Author:
Martin Logue
Author:
Shazab Islam
Author:
Tom Stokes
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