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Patient trust in community pharmacy: an exploration of the influence of patient trust on willingness to use expanded scope of practice services
Investigator (PI): Morrison, Bobbi
Performing Organization (PO): (Current): St. Francis Xavier University, Faculty of Business, Gerald Schwartz School of Business / (902) 867-2167
Supporting Agency (SA): Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation
Initial Year: 2015
Final Year: 2016
Record Source/Award ID: NSHRF/10092
Funding: Total Award Amount: $14,146
Award Type: Grant
Abstract: The role of pharmacists is evolving from being primarily drug dispensers to providing expanded health services to their communities in order to provide timely access to primary health care. These expanded health services include administering injections and immunizations, prescribing for minor ailments and offering prescription renewals. Nova Scotia is a Canadian leader in this area; however, expanded scope of practice (ESOP) uptake by the public has been slow. While recent research indicates that trust is the most important influence in Nova Scotians' decisions to use expanded services, little is known about which aspects of trust are most influential in these decisions. Specifically, it remains unclear how trust should be measured in the context of pharmacy practice and it is also unknown whether interpersonal trust (trust between the patient and pharmacist) or institutional trust (the trust the patient feels for the pharmacy) is more influential in patients' decisions to use expanded services. As such, the objectives of this research are 1) to develop a measurement instrument for patient trust in pharmacies (institutional) and pharmacists (interpersonal) based upon pre-existing research; 2) to explore how the dimensions of interpersonal trust with pharmacists influence patient willingness to use expanded pharmacy services; 3) to explore how institutional trust of pharmacies influences patient willingness to use expanded pharmacy services; 4) to develop an exploratory model of how institutional trust and interpersonal trust collectively influence patient willingness to use expanded pharmacy services; and 5) to develop an a CIHR grant application based upon the study findings. Data collection will be conducted using an online survey from a sample of Nova Scotian adults (N=640) using Survey Sampling International (SSI) to reach the sample and FluidsurveysTM software will be employed to host the questionnaire. Data analysis will include descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis using SPSS v20 and partial least squares (PLS) structured equation modelling (SEM) using SmartPLS 2.0. As the aim of this research is to understand how patient trust influences decisions to use expanded pharmacy services in Nova Scotia for the betterment of public health provincially, the target audience for the findings of this research will include pharmacists, pharmacy owners, the Nova Scotia College of Pharmacists, the Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia, and relevant public health decision makers. The results of this research will provide a greater understanding of the role of trust in public use of expanded scope of practice services in Nova Scotia, with the ability to apply these findings to other jurisdictions across Canada that are currently providing and looking to provide expanded scope of practice services through community pharmacies. As such, the findings from this research will provide a foundation for submission of a CIHR Open Suite of Programs (Project Scheme) Grant application to gather requisite evidence to inform policy decisions with respect to increasing uptake of expanded pharmacist services.
MeSH Terms:
  • Adult
  • Health Policy
  • Humans
  • Nova Scotia
  • Pharmacies /*organization & administration
  • Program Development
  • Public Health
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • * Trust
Keywords:
  • access to health care
  • community pharmacy
  • expanded scope of practice
  • institutional trust
  • interpersonal trust
  • partial least squares (PLS)
Country: Canada
State: Nova Scotia
Zip Code: B2G 2W5
UI: 20161270
Project Status: Completed