Health promotion by community pharmacists: consumers' views

Abstract

Abstract As part of the evaluation of the Barnet family health services authority high street health scheme (HSHS), 592 consumers were interviewed in six pharmacies. The objectives were to investigate whether the consumers came to the pharmacies for advice on general health matters, saw pharmacists as a reliable source of advice about staying healthy, read health promotion leaflets and had heard of HSHS. The general medical practitioner's (GP's) surgery was felt to be the most convenient place to get advice about staying healthy, and the GP the best person from whom to get it. The pharmacist was rated second in each case, above the media, although only 90 (15 per cent) of respondents had ever asked the pharmacist for general health advice. Only 237 (40 per cent) thought that it was the “usual” job of the pharmacist to give advice about general health, 112 (19 per cent) thought that it was not, and 243 (41 per cent) did not know. Those who had taken away leaflets to read (178, 30 per cent) were significantly more likely to be frequent visitors to the pharmacy, to have chronic illnesses, to think the media was the most convenient place to get advice, to have previously asked the pharmacist for advice about staying healthy and to think it was usual job of the pharmacist to give advice about staying healthy. Only 65 (11 per cent) had heard of the HSHS. Many consumers do not currently perceive that there is a role for community pharmacists in health promotion, and the profession needs to think again about some of the presumptions that have been made in the past.