Pharmacist in Media: Role in Healthcare and Public Perception

Abstract

The use of internet and social media for health information sharing is expanding among public, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals over the past few years. Research investigating the use of internet and social media in the practice of pharmacy is growing, however, little is known on the delivery of pharmacy services through these media platforms. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the roles of pharmacist in media in providing healthcare information, to evaluate public perception and acceptance towards pharmacist using media as a platform information sharing and to find out public expectation towards pharmacy services in media. A total of 200 respondents were involved by random sampling in this cross-sectional study. Study duration was from October until November 2019. The self-administered questionnaire was adapted from previous study investigating the public preferred source of healthcare advices. Majority of the respondents agree that media platforms can be used by pharmacist to improve patient-pharmacist communication with 76.5% expected that social media has the potential to become an established channel for patient-pharmacist communication. 61.0% of the respondents also acknowledged pharmacist to be very knowledgeable on health-related information by providing accurate information. This study provided insights into the public view towards the roles of pharmacist and their expectation towards pharmacist sharing health-related information in media platforms. Participants recognized the potential use of media platforms for healthcare information sharing. To enhance pharmacist presence and impact on public health through digital media platforms, it is important to start incorporating digital medium into their pharmacy services.