Public Education Campaigns to Transform Perceptions of Pharmacists: Are They Worth the Investment?

Recent public opinion polls consistently rank pharmacists as highly trusted health care professionals, but the reasoning for this ranking continues to remain vague and inconclusive. One possible explanation for this high ranking is that it is due in part to the limited expectations the public has of the profession. To gather comparative "before" and "after" data for this study, a self-administered, 33-item paper questionnaire was disseminated to 382 postsecondary (undergraduate) business students in a classroom setting. The questionnaire was designed to assess respondents' baseline perceptions toward (1) the pharmacy profession, in general, and (2) a prerecorded video of a simulated patient-pharmacist counseling session. Most respondents initially reported a "Poor/Fair" understanding of pharmacist education and training (52.1%), what to expect when having a prescription dispensed (55.5%), the content of a counseling session (49.7%), and pharmacist scope of practice (55.5%). After viewing the educational video, the number of respondents who reported a "Poor/Fair" understanding dropped to less than 5%; the majority of respondents reported a "Very Good/Excellent" understanding of pharmacist education and training (63.1%), what to expect when having a prescription dispensed (56.0%), the content of a counseling session (66.4%), and pharmacist scope of practice (60.5%). Results of this study demonstrated that using a public education-type video to increase public awareness for the pharmacy profession and pharmacist counseling duties significantly impacted respondents' knowledge and perception of value toward the profession and of pharmacist counseling.