Insights from a capstone workshop: An investigation of soon-to-be pharmacists' readiness to provide culturally competent pharmaceutical care

Abstract

IntroductionThis study investigated readiness of soon-to-be pharmacists to provide culturally sensitive patient-centered care through administration of a capstone workshop. MethodsThe workshop was delivered in 2017 and 2018 and consisted of a pre-survey, a didactic lecture followed by group discussions of Worlds Apart cases, and a post-survey. The surveys contained knowledge questions and perception statements. Results were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Group questions were aligned to constructs from Campinha-Bacote's Model of Cultural Competence. The percentage of groups with correct answers was calculated. ResultsBoth cohorts significantly increased their knowledge by the end of the workshop (p = 0.007, 2017; p < 0.001, 2018). Significant increases in respondent agreement to perception statements were also observed post-workshop. The percent of correct group responses varied by construct within the cultural aspect, between the aspects for each year, and between years. The evaluation of overall cultural readiness yielded the lowest results. ConclusionThis research revealed the necessity and value of the capstone workshop. Significant improvements in meeting cultural competence standards were observed upon completion of the exercise. Alignment of group discussion questions to Campinha-Bacote's Model of Cultural Competence constructs was useful in augmentation of assessment armamentarium as it unearthed gaps in cultural competences of pharmacy graduates. Further multi-institutional research aimed to generalize the findings of this study is highly desired.