Perceptions of Spanish-speaking clientele of patient care services in a community pharmacy

A paucity of studies exists that have assessed community pharmacy preferences of Spanish-speaking patients living in areas of the U.S. with rapidly growing Hispanic populations. The qualitative approach to this research affords a unique opportunity to further explore perceptions of the Spanish-speaking population.

To identify perceptions of Spanish-speaking patients living in the U.S. with a focus on the care provided in community pharmacies, as well as to determine their satisfaction with community pharmacies.

Participants were recruited after weekly Spanish-speaking church services for approximately one month. Qualitative, semi-structured individual interviews to identify perceived unmet patient care needs were conducted in Spanish and transcribed/translated verbatim. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to summarize findings. A written questionnaire was administered to collect patient satisfaction and demographic information, summarized using descriptive statistics.

Twelve interviews were conducted by the principal investigator. Primary themes included lack of insurance coupled with high medical care costs serving as a barrier for acquisition of health care, difficulty accessing timely and convenient primary care, perceived negative attitudes from pharmacy personnel, lack of Spanish-speaking health care providers, and the provision of verbal and written medication information in English.

The results of this study suggest a great need for health care providers, including pharmacists, to expand outreach services to the Spanish-speaking community. Some examples derived from the interview process include increasing marketing efforts of available services in the Spanish language, hiring Spanish-speaking personnel, and offering medical terminology education classes to Spanish-speaking patients.