Community-Based Pharmacy Travel Health Service Pilot Impact on Participant Understanding and Satisfaction

Area of Science:

• Travel Medicine
• Community Pharmacy Practice
• Public Health

Background:

• International travel is increasing, driving demand for travel health services.
• Community pharmacists are well-positioned to address this growing need for travel health expertise.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of pharmacist-led travel health consultations on participant understanding and satisfaction.
• To evaluate the perceived value of travel health services provided by community pharmacists.

Main Methods:

• Pharmacists conducted consultations, reviewing medical history and itineraries, administering immunizations, and contacting primary care providers for prescriptions.
• Participants completed pre- and post-consultation questionnaires assessing understanding, satisfaction, and perceived monetary value using 5-point Likert scales.
• Statistical analysis included Wilcoxon signed-rank test and descriptive statistics for 12 participants with international travel planned within 12 weeks.

Main Results:

• Participant understanding of travel health information significantly improved across all assessed items (p < 0.05).
• The greatest improvement was observed in knowledge of seeking medical help internationally (p = 0.003).
• Participant satisfaction was high (median response of 5), with a perceived monetary value of $50.

Conclusions:

• Pharmacist-led travel health consultations effectively enhance traveler's understanding of essential health information.
• These services are perceived as valuable by participants, highlighting the role of community pharmacists in travel medicine.