Evaluation of a pharmaceutical care education series for chain pharmacists using the focus group method

(1) Describe a pharmaceutical care education program presented to a group of pharmacists employed by a large pharmacy chain; (2) present the results of a formative evaluation of that program, and show how these can be used to improve subsequent offerings of the program as well as to enhance the efforts of other pharmacies and colleges involved in similar ventures; and (3) describe the focus group method in detail and demonstrate its usefulness as an evaluation tool.

Two pharmacist focus groups and two patient focus groups.

Chain pharmacy corporation and two colleges of pharmacy.

Effects on attitudes and practice.

The focus group method is useful for this type of evaluation. The educational series had a positive effect on pharmacists' attitudes and reported practice behavior. However, these improvements were not obvious to patients. Small group learning modules that include cases or problem-based exercises are probably effective vehicles for achieving educational goals.

The chain pharmacy corporation should revise the educational program and expose more pharmacist-employees to it. This company and others should consider providing off-site, in-person education to employee pharmacists that makes use of an interactive, small group format. Although effective, the focus group method could have been improved by a more rigorous patient recruitment process and greater structure to the debriefing sessions for staff.