Teaching and counselling behaviour: an applied study with community pharmacists

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Continuing Professional Development
• Health Professions Education

Background:

• Continuing education in pharmacy aims to enhance professional practice and patient care.
• The effectiveness of different educational methodologies in improving pharmacist counseling skills is not well-established.
• Understanding the relationship between acquired knowledge and actual practice is crucial for effective training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the optimal methodology for improving pharmacist counseling behavior.
• To investigate if learning outcomes are influenced by individual learning styles.
• To assess whether increased knowledge translates into improved practical counseling skills ('knowing implies doing').

Main Methods:

• Four educational methods (lecture, workshop, audiocassette, textbook) were assessed for transferring information on cough medicines.
• Pharmacists completed a learning-style inventory and pre/post-tests.
• Counseling behavior was evaluated via 'incognito' visits and telephone interviews, comparing intervention and control groups.

Main Results:

• All educational methods significantly improved pharmacist knowledge, with no single method proving superior.
• Pharmacists who additionally read the textbook gained more knowledge; self-study fostered fundamental knowledge.
• Knowledge improvement did not correlate with better counseling; key counseling behaviors like drug usage instructions were common, but action explanations were less frequent.

Conclusions:

• No specific in-service training method demonstrated superior efficiency in improving pharmacist knowledge or counseling.
• Active engagement with self-study materials enhances pharmacological knowledge acquisition.
• Developing effective educational strategies to improve pharmacist counseling behavior remains an ongoing objective.