Understanding Gaps in Pharmacist-Patient Role Perceptions: Implications for Collaborative Care.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Practice
• Social Pharmacy
• Healthcare Communication

Background:

• Pharmacists are expanding clinical roles beyond dispensing.
• Patient perception often lags behind, viewing pharmacists primarily as dispensers.
• This role expectation misalignment can hinder effective pharmacy service utilization and communication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the congruence of role perceptions between pharmacists and patients in Jordan.
• To identify specific domains where role expectations differ within the pharmacist-patient relationship.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 403 pharmacists and 806 patients in Jordanian community pharmacies.
• Parallel questionnaires assessed perceptions of pharmacist and patient roles, including information exchange and responsible behaviors.
• Mann-Whitney U-tests were employed to compare mean rank differences between the two groups.

Main Results:

• Pharmacists consistently assigned higher importance to both their own and patients' roles compared to patients' self-assessments.
• Significant differences were observed in perceptions of discussing medication side effects, medication management assistance, and initial patient interactions.
• Pharmacists perceived higher patient willingness for collaborative medication management than patients reported themselves.

Conclusions:

• A notable perception gap exists between pharmacists and patients in Jordan concerning their respective roles.
• These discrepancies, particularly in information sharing and response behaviors, may impede pharmacist-patient interactions and collaboration.
• Targeted interventions are needed to bridge these perceptual divides and enhance the pharmacist-patient relationship.