Low Level Of Involvement Research Articles

Reasons to switch: empowered vs less powerful bank customers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to the existing literature of driving and impeding switching factors by operationalizing the catalyst factor of perceived power among customers. Acknowledging the importance of trust in a financial context, a trust-based framework for the analysis is used. The study explicitly analyzes factors of importance for subsequent switching of banks for empowered customers (i.e. savers) and low-on-power customers (i.e. borrowers).Design/methodology/approachThe study measures factors driving or impeding switch of service provider, together with measures of trust and power using online survey methods. The sample is intended to focus on savers and borrowers, defined quantitatively as well as perception wise. Through a multi-group SEM analysis, differences between the samples of savers and borrowers are analyzed. The dependent variable was in both cases inclination to switch.FindingsThe paper manages to define differences between empowered and less empowered customers, such as borrowers and savers. The mediating effect of trust prevails only for borrowers: here, the only effect on switching behavior stems from a full mediation of stability through trust. For savers, direct influences of both service failure and lack of involvement on trust are of major importance. The importance of trust, however, is lacking; for the sample of savers, the link between trust and switching behavior is insignificant.Practical implicationsThe results may be used as a tool box in order to address consumer switching behavior and mobility in the financial services market. The biggest obstacle for switching banks among savers is the low level of involvement. This has clear implications regarding how to increase switching, e.g., by raising interest. Focusing instead on borrowers, stability of the chosen financial institution turned out to be the most important factor.Originality/valueThis paper introduces a view on consumer switching behavior, taking into account differences regarding service provider relations (empowered savers vs less empowered borrowers) and the importance of trust in these two settings. The paper introduces trust as a mediator between switching behavior and four determinants: stability, personal relations, service failure and internet-related issues, and involvement.

Pakistani parents and their children’s school: parent and school staff perspectives on parental involvement at the foundation stage

ABSTRACTThe article reports the results of a case study of Pakistani parents’ involvement with their children’s school in a Foundation Stage setting in Southern England. The context includes the difficulties some children and families from ethnic minorities can experience within the English education system and a growing awareness of the importance of parental involvement. Detailed interviews were conducted with parents from twelve families (most in the parents’ mother tongue) and relevant staff. Most parents and school staff were very positive about parental involvement but levels of involvement were mostly low. Many parents did not feel welcomed and got little information and guidance. They did not understand teaching methods in relation to play and mathematics. The school staff attributed low levels of involvement to parents not valuing such involvement and their lack of education. The study shows a significant level of misunderstanding and lack of communication between school and parents.

EXTENT OF STUDENTS PARTICIPATION IN DECISION MAKING IN SECONDARY SCHOOL MANAGEMENT IN THARAKA-NITHI AND NAIROBI COUNTIES, KENYA

The recurrent student indiscipline in form of unrests in secondary schools and their incessant desire to destroy school property probably reflects the feeling of alienation rather than of ownership of the schools, they attend. By striking and destroying property, the students may be expressing their demands for involvement in the running of the schools. The objective of the study was to determine the extent to which students participate in decision making in secondary school management the study employed mixed method design, specifically triangulation method. Stratified random sampling, simple random sampling, purposive and convenience sampling were used in drawing the samples. The Krejcie and Morgan’s table for determining large sample size was used to determine the sample size of students. The sample consisted of 38 secondary schools, 38 head teachers, 293 teachers, 753 students, 72 student leaders, 24 parents and 3 SCDE. Data collection instruments included questionnaires, interview guides and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) guide. Content validity was determined by seeking expert judgement from educational management. Cronbach's alpha was used to establish the reliability of the instruments. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and organized into themes and presented using descriptions and quotations. The findings showed that majority of the schools had established Student Council form of student leadership, although the councils were not represented in BOM, PA and staff meetings. The study found that there were low levels of student participation in decision making low levels of students’ representation in Boards of Management (BOM) and Parents’ Association, respectively. The findings further revealed low levels of involvement of student representatives in staff meetings. The study therefore recommends that secondary school managements should actively involve students in all areas of decision-making in school with particular emphasis on decisions relating to the foregoing decision-making areas. Article visualizations:

Personality Dimensions and Importance of the Social Role of the University Student in Explaining Student Involvement in Student Organization

Abstract In order to explore the student involvement in the student organization, field research was conducted amongst 669 students. The research instrument contained a questionnaire on students’ perception and satisfaction of the student organization; two scales of IPIP NEO (short form): Agreeableness (A) and Conscientiousness (C), and one dimension of the Laponce’s questionnaire: the importance of the social role of the university student. The analysis of the overall obtained data showed a very low level of involvement in student organization and a weak expression of the importance of the social role of the university student. A relatively weak connection between two personality dimensions and the involvement of students in the student organization has been found. A student’s involvement is determined more by the importance of the role, than by personality dimensions.

Cardiac rehabilitation services for people in rural and remote areas: an integrative literature review.

Morbidity and mortality from heart disease continues to be high in Australia with cardiac rehabilitation (CR) recognised as best practice for people with heart disease. CR is known to reduce mortality, reoccurrence of heart disease, hospital readmissions and costs, and to improve quality of life. Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (Australian First Peoples or Indigenous peoples) have a greater need for CR due to their higher burden of disease. However, CR referral, access and attendance remain low for all people who live in rural and remote areas. The aim of this integrative review was to identify barriers, enablers and pathways to CR for adults living independently in rural and remote areas of high-income countries, including Australia. Studies were identified through five online data bases, plus reference lists of the selected studies. The studies focused on barriers and enablers of CR for adults in rural and remote areas of Australia and other high-income countries, in English peer-reviewed journals (2007-2016). A mix of qualitative, quantitative and mixed method studies were reviewed through a modified Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), followed by a critical review and thematic analysis. Sixteen studies were selected: seven qualitative, four quantitative and five mixed method. Five themes that influence CR attendance were identified: referral, health services pathways and planning; cultural and geographic factors necessitating alternative and flexible programs; professional roles and influence; knowing, valuing, and psychosocial factors; and financial costs - personal and health services. Factors identified that impact on referral and access to CR were hospital inpatient education programs on heart disease and risk factors; discharge processes including CR eligibility criteria and referral to ensure continuum and transition of care; need for improved accessibility of services, both geographically and through alternative programs, including home based with IT and/or telephone support. Also, the need to ensure that health professionals understand, value and support CR; the impact of mental health, coping with change and competing priorities; costs including travel, medications and health professional consultations; as well as low levels of involvement of Australian First Peoples in their own care and poor cultural understanding by non-Australian First Peoples staff all negatively impact on CR access and attendance. This study found weak systems with low referral rates and poor access to CR in rural and remote areas. Underlying factors include lack of health professional and public support, often based on poor perception of benefits of CR, compounded by scarce and inflexible services. Low levels of involvement of Australian First Peoples, as well as a lack of cultural understanding by non-Australian First Peoples staff, is evident. Overall, the findings demonstrate the need for improved models of referral and access, greater flexibility of programs and professional roles, with management support. Further, increased education and involvement of Australian First Peoples, including Indigenous health workers taking a lead in their own people's care, supported by improved education and greater cultural awareness of non-Australian First Peoples staff, is required.

Institutional Risk in Child Protection: Perspective of Professionals

This article focuses on institutional risk factors that relate to the ability of child rights professionals to protect maltreated children. The aim of the article is to reveal the structural threats existing in the system of protection of the child’s rights, which create preconditions for the disclosure of institutional risks. Semi-structured qualitative interview method used. Ten interviews with children's rights protection specialists (CRPS) conducted during March-April 2018. According to the content analysis method, it has been established that the family assistance model for child protection is declarative in nature, due to the lack of services that meet the needs of children and families, and poor accessibility and quality, especially in rural areas, and social work orientation into control. The findings highlighted gaps in inter-agency cooperation in the protection of the child, the low level of involvement of health care, in particular – the treatment of paediatric and addictive diseases. In view of the internal field of the childʼs rights services, it has been highlighted that institutional problems are significantly contributing to the institutional risk: CRPS experienced inadequate methodological assistance and training which not corresponding to the problems encountering in everyday practice, lack of human resources, large workloads, low wages, lack of working methods, lack of stress management. In the context of the ongoing reform of the protection of the rights of the child, it is recommended to eliminate institutional risks, to strengthen services for children and families, and to improve inter-agency cooperation in the protection of the child.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ppaa.17.3.21953

Co-branded services: perceived benefits and involvement of co-branded credit cards

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to further the consumer services theory in financial services marketing by examining how perceived benefits influence consumer intention-to-use a co-branded credit card and further how intention-to-use is moderated by involvement.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual model is developed and tested. A convenience sample of users of a co-branded credit card was surveyed. The responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsResults show a strong association between perceived benefits and co-brand equity and between co-brand equity and co-brand preference, as well as between perceived benefits and intention-to-use. The research also identifies four perceived benefits of a co-branded credit card. They also show that highly involved consumers are less affected by perceived benefits than their low involvement counterparts.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research might consider co-branding across categories of services and explore the ambivalent results of co-brand preference in the mode. This research is limited by the use of a convenience sample and a cross-sectional survey. A probability sample and a longitudinal element to the study would have added weight to the study’s findings.Practical implicationsManagers with co-branding responsibilities should focus on improving the perceived benefits of co-branded credit cards.Social implicationsThis study has a wider application to understanding how co-branding services may be applied in not-for-profit situations, specifically affinity card co-branding, thus generating greater revenue for charitable and social concerns.Originality/valueThis research advances research in the financial services consumer theory by demonstrating a strong association between perceived benefits and intention-to-use a co-branded credit card, distinguishing between the behavioral traits of consumers with high and low levels of involvement. It thus advances the consumer theory in co-branding.

Pengaruh Ketidakpuasan Konsumen dan Kebutuhan Mencari Variasi terhadap Keputusan Perpindahan Merek Produk Vitamin C di Surabaya Timur

The availability of vitamin C products increases on the market with various types so that buyers also require consideration in purchasing these products. Brand switching behavior which occurs due to variety seeking behavior needs to receive attention from marketers. This behavior tends to happen in products that require low levels of involvement or when the consumer does not involve many factors of consideration and information obtained prior to the purchase decision is taken. This study aims to see how the influence of consumer dissatisfaction and the need to find the product variety toward Vitamin C product brand switching decisions in Surabaya. This is a conclusive study that was conducted by distributing questionnaires. The independent variables are consumer dissatisfaction and the need of seeking variation, while the dependent variable is the brand switching decision. The research method used is a multiple linear regression. Data will be processed by using SPSS software with 100 samples. The result showed that consumer dissatisfaction (X1) and the need of seeking variation (X2) has a very significant influence on the brand switching decision shown by the results of F test, using SPSS 12, in which F-count > F-table, which is 78.860> 3.09. In conclusion, the independent variable, namely consumer dissatisfaction and the need of seeking variation, gives a significant influence on the brand switching decision simultaneously. Consumer dissatisfaction variable (X1) has a t-count (3.619)> t-table (1.985) and the need of seeking variation variable (X2) has a t-count (6.828)> t-table (1.985), so it can be concluded that both of them influence the brand switching decision (Y) partially. The need of seeking variation variable is the dominant factor. Therefore, vitamin C products should be created according to consumer expectations, such as improving the ability of product durability, and add other content to keep them healthy.

Communicative Ecology of Moscow Residents

This exploratory research questions communicative patterns of Moscow metropolitan area residents: practices, attitudes to the city and technological tools used for information search and communication matters. Applying communicative ecology concept on the city level, author analyses data collected by an online survey (N = 200) to distinguish key communication patterns within three dimensions: social, technological and discursive. Among the major communication patterns, we identified significance of the strong ties among residents, relatively low level of membership in social and civic society organizations and exceptionally low level of involvement in local community problem-solving. The study delineates several problems of communicative ecology and prospective directions on urban communication research in Moscow.

Male partner involvement in increasing the uptake of infant antiretroviral prophylaxis/treatment in sub Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundInfant antiretroviral prophylaxis plays an important role towards ensuring the reduction of HIV transmission from mother to child in the postpartum period. However in sub Saharan Africa (SSA), the low level of involvement of male partners may hinder the uptake of such services by HIV positive mothers. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the impact of male partner involvement approaches on the uptake of infant antiretroviral prophylaxis in SSA.MethodsIn this systematic review and meta-analysis, Ovid Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane library, ClinicalTrials.gov, Web of Science and Current Controlled Trials were searched from 1st December 2015 up until 30th March 2016. Only studies carried out in SSA that reported an approach used in involving male partners and the impact on the uptake of infant antiretroviral prophylaxis irrespective of the Language and date of publication were included. Odds ratios were extracted or calculated from studies and combined in a meta-analysis using the statistical package Stata version 11.0. Forest plots were generated using the random effect model.ResultsFrom an initial 2316 non-duplicate articles, 09 articles were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. The pooled unadjusted odds ratio was 2.09(95% CI: 1.31 to 3.36) while the unadjusted odds ratios for enhanced psychosocial interventions (02 studies pooled), complex community interventions (02 studies pooled), verbal encouragement (02 studies pooled) and invitation letters(03 pooled studies) were 3.48(95% CI: 1.42 to 8.53), 1.85(95%CI: 0.85 to 4.03), 2.37(95%CI: 1.22 to 4.61) and 1.81(95%CI: 0.64 to 5.14) respectively. I squared was 89.5%, p < 0.001 and the heterogeneity was not explained by any of the variables in meta-regression.ConclusionThere was stronger evidence for enhanced psychosocial intervention and verbal encouragement in increasing the uptake of infant prophylaxis. The high heterogeneity suggests more studies are needed to draw a definite inference from the meta-analysis. More studies with larger sample sizes that are conducted using similar methods are needed in the future.Trial registrationProspero registration number: 42016032673.

Product involvement and consumer food-elicited emotional associations: Insights from emoji questionnaires

Individual differences in food-related consumer behaviour are well documented, but lack thorough exploration in relation to product-elicited emotional associations. In this research, focus is directed to product involvement as a factor that modulates emotional associations to tasted products (dried fruit, n = 4) and written descriptions of consumption situations (drinking red wine, cooking dinner using seafood). Emoji questionnaires were used (as check-all-that-apply questions: CATA), and across two studies with consumers in New Zealand (n = 352) and China (n = 450), higher levels of involvement were associated with more positive emotional associations. For example, consumers with higher involvement for dried fruit used emoji with positive meanings (e.g., face savouring delicious food (▪), smiling face with heart-shaped eyes (▪) and smiling face with smiling eyes (▪) more frequently than those with lower levels of involvement. Conversely, emoji with negative or neutral meanings (e.g., confused face (▪), confounded face (▪), neutral face (▪)), were more frequently used by consumers with lower levels of product involvement. The number of significant differences between the samples of dried fruit were lower in the less involved consumer segment, and these consumers, on average, used less emoji to characterise the samples. A similar pattern of results were established for the written stimuli, which were used with Chinese consumers. For example, in the segment with greater involvement with seafood, associations to emoji with positive meanings were higher when responding to the situation “cooking dinner using frozen seafood as one of the ingredients.” In the case of “drinking French red wine,” the strategy used to define segments (median vs. triadic split of summed involvement scores) additionally influenced the results, and bigger differences were established when comparing more discrete segments (two extreme groups following triadic split).

Social psychological predictors of involvement in childcare: the mediating role of changes in women’s work patterns after childbirth

ABSTRACTThis study sought to explore the role of couples’ social psychological characteristics in the division of childcare responsibilities. Using a longitudinal sample of 148 expecting couples, gender ideologies, attitudes toward the father role and self-enhancement values were measured during the third trimester of pregnancy. As hypothesized, prenatal gender ideologies predicted maternal and paternal involvement in childcare one year postpartum, and their effect was mediated by changes in the mothers’ work patterns following childbirth. Moreover, parents’ attitudes toward the father role predicted the father’s involvement in childcare, and the importance the parents placed on self-enhancement values predicted their own lower levels of involvement in childcare and greater involvement of their spouses. Taken together, the findings stress the importance of couples’ social psychological characteristics and suggest that they guide couples’ decisions about changes in the mother’s work hours and income, which in turn affect the division of childcare responsibilities.

Неформальний конструктивний інститут громадянського суспільства vs неформальний деструктивний інститут корупції: польський досвід міжінституційного протистояння.

The article investigates the role of the constructive informal institution of civil society in anticorruption counteraction. It emphasizes that the civic activism can become a driving force in preventing dishonesty in politics, while the inertia of civil society leads to “shadowing” of politics, causing a corruption “capture” of the state by interested political and economic actors. The potential of the civil society in the implementation of anti-corruption mechanisms is shown on the example of Poland. The author studies: the formation of the Polish civil society and factors that influenced its evolution; the scale of political and other types of corruption in this country; changes in the dynamics of corruption practices; the specific role of the civil society institutions in counteracting corruption in Poland. Attention is paid to the level of corruption in Poland and its main manifestation. The study investigates the activities of the Polish civil society institution as anti-corruption counteraction actors. It is noted that there are few associations and foundations focusing on the anti-corruption activity. The political parties and media pay more attention to the issue of corruption. It reports the projects of the Stefan Batory Foundation, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Association of the Leaders of Local Public Groups, and Transparency International Poland. The successful anti-corruption projects of the civil society include the “Responsible State” program of the Stefan Batory Foundation (the “Barometer of corruption risk in government procurement” monitoring, “Monitoring of candidates for public offices” etc.). It is noted that the Polish “third sector” does not have stable funding; government funds dominate in the budgets of organizations, which is a disadvantage for anti-corruption NGOs. It is emphasized that the Polish citizens were rarely mobilized specifically against corruption, although some other issues (such as the judicial reform, tightening of the abortion law etc.) caused mass protests. The author notes a low level of involvement of the Polish “third sector” in the development of anti-corruption policy. At the same time, it is emphasized that Poland is a good example for Ukraine of how the vector of state development changes thanks to the active civil society and attention is drawn to the problems of good governance.

Customer-Firm Interactions and the Path to Profitability

This study investigates a chain of effects to understand the causal path from customer informational inquiries (CIIs) and firm-initiated contacts (FICs) to customer profitability. Drawing on social exchange theory, our framework identifies a set of attitudinal (perceived relationship investment and relationship quality), behavioral (customer cross-buy and service usage), and financial (customer profitability) consequences of CIIs and FICs and also explores the extent to which customer-perceived financial risk and customer involvement shape attitudinal reactions to CIIs and FICs. Using longitudinal data for a sample of 1,990 customers measured in four different periods, the framework is tested in financial services by applying seemingly unrelated regression techniques. Our results reveal that FICs and CIIs are a particularly valuable tool for strengthening the relationship with customers with a low level of involvement but high perception of financial services risk. For highly involved customers, FICs and CIIs are not very effective; CIIs can even backfire if the customer also perceives the risk to be low. Our results highlight the importance of market segmentation for marketers to more effectively manage when and to whom they should target marketing activities (FICs) and steer CIIs.

Involvement Of Community Pharmacists In Public Health Priorities: A Multi-Center Descriptive Survey In Ethiopia

Located in the heart of the community and widely distributed geographically, community pharmacies provide a platform for a more proactive involvement in public health services. So far, little information has been gathered in Ethiopia on community pharmacists’ level of involvement in public health services. The aim of the present study was, therefore, to document the level of involvement of community pharmacy professionals in the provision of public health services and the barriers to such involvement. This study employed a self-administered questionnaire based survey, which asked participants to indicate their frequency and level of involvement in providing public health services and their perceived barriers in providing such services. Surveys were undertaken from May to July, 2016 with 472 community pharmacy professionals working in community pharmacies in six cities of Amhara regional state of Ethiopia: Debre Markos, Gondar, Dessie, Bahir Dar, Woldya and Debre Birhan. Among 472 community pharmacy professionals approached, 412 (233 pharmacists and 179 pharmacy technicians) completed the survey with a response rate of 87.3%. Most respondents reported as being either “not at all involved” or “little involved” in counselling on smoking cessation (79.3%), and screening for hypertension (86.9%), diabetes (89.5%), and dyslipidemia (88.9%). On the other hand, they reported a higher level of involvement in the management and screening of infectious diseases (72.8%) and counseling with partners when initiating treatment for sexually transmitted diseases (68.9%). Lack of knowledge or clinical skills and lack of personnel or resources were the most commonly reported barrier for expanding such services. This survey revealed a low level of involvement of community pharmacists in public health services. In order to better integrate community pharmacies into future public health programs and optimize the contribution of community pharmacy professionals, interventions should focus on overcoming the identified barriers.

Adjustment of High School Dropouts in Closed Religious Communities

While extensive research has been done on high-school dropouts’ adjustment, there is little data on dropouts from closed religious communities. This study examines the contribution of personal and social resources to the adjustment of high school dropouts in Ultraorthodox Jewish communities in Israel. Using a randomized design, the research population included 261 Ultraorthodox Jewish male youths, ages 14–21 (M = 17, SD = 1.71), who were at different stages of the dropout process. Structural equation modeling was used to explore the direct and indirect effects between the various stages of the dropout process, social and personal resources, and adjustment. Students in high school or in a program for high school dropouts showed higher levels of loneliness and lower levels of involvement and representation in the peer group than did dropouts. However, higher levels of personal and social resources were found among students than among dropouts. Furthermore, sense of community was found to be a protective factor for positive adjustment only for students, while for dropouts it seemed to constitute a risk factor. The findings expose the highly complex situation of at-risk youths in the Ultraorthodox Jewish community. Efforts to keep them in the community’s educational frameworks seem to create pressure and put these youths at risk. At the same time, the poor resources of youths who do not stay in the community`s educational frameworks may lower their positive adjustment. Implications for promoting positive adjustment are discussed.

Patient Use of the Electronic Communication Portal in Management of Type 2 Diabetes.

High incidence and prevalence of type 2 diabetes require urgent attention to the management of this chronic disease. The purpose of this study was to explore electronic communication (e-communication) between patients with type 2 diabetes and their providers within the patient portal. Qualitative design with conventional content analysis techniques was used. A purposive random sample of 90 electronic medical record charts of patient-portal users with type 2 diabetes was subjected to a retrospective review. The sample mainly consisted of patients between the ages of 50 and 70 years, who were white, non-Hispanic, and English-speaking. The three major themes that emerged in e-communication via patient portal were inform theme, which was the most frequently identified theme; instruct/request theme, which was mainly used in initiation of e-communication; and the question theme. The patient portal was used primarily for requests by patients and instruction by providers, showing relatively short e-message encounters with a high number of partially completed encounters, frequent lack of resolution, and a low level of involvement of diabetes specialists in e-communication. There is a need to revise healthcare system guidelines on initiation and use of e-communication via patient portal and develop standardized templates to promote diabetes education in type 2 diabetes.

Evaluating Pharmacist Level of Involvement in disease Prevention Activities in Nigeria

Evidence exists in literature to support involvement of community pharmacists in a broad range of preventive health activities especially in developed countries. There is a need to explore extent of pharmacists’ involvement in resource limited countries. The objectives of this study were to describe community pharmacists’ involvement in disease prevention strategies and explore facilitators and barriers to involvement. A forty item pretested self- completion questionnaire with 0.944 reliability was administered to a convenient sample of 500 community pharmacists in 3 major cities in Nigeria. Self- reported involvement in preventive health strategies was evaluated on a 5 point response scale ranging from 1 (Not involved at all ) to 5 (very much involved). Response rate was 90.6% (453/500). Mean scores on face to face delivery of preventive health service was consistently higher than leaflet or text message. Pharmacists were mostly involved in preventive health services in the area of hypertension mean (4.38±0.91) followed by Diabetes (4.35±0.86) ST1 (4.27±0.84) and weight reduction (3.39±1.37). Areas of least involvement include osteoporosis (2.2±1.25), hyperlipidemia (2.9±1.43), travel health (2.33±1.33) and cancer risk assessment (1.67±0.96). Lack of adequate training was the most frequent reason for low level of involvement. Community pharmacists in Nigeria are involved to varying extent in a wide range of preventive health activities. Areas of low involvement in this study indicate a need for capacity building in order to increase level of community pharmacist involvement in preventive health activities.

Involvement of community pharmacists in public health priorities: A multi-center descriptive survey in Ethiopia.

Located in the heart of the community and widely distributed geographically, community pharmacies provide a platform for a more proactive involvement in public health services. So far, little information has been gathered in Ethiopia on community pharmacists’ level of involvement in public health services. The aim of the present study was, therefore, to document the level of involvement of community pharmacy professionals in the provision of public health services and the barriers to such involvement. This study employed a self-administered questionnaire based survey, which asked participants to indicate their frequency and level of involvement in providing public health services and their perceived barriers in providing such services. Surveys were undertaken from May to July, 2016 with 472 community pharmacy professionals working in community pharmacies in six cities of Amhara regional state of Ethiopia: Debre Markos, Gondar, Dessie, Bahir Dar, Woldya and Debre Birhan. Among 472 community pharmacy professionals approached, 412 (233 pharmacists and 179 pharmacy technicians) completed the survey with a response rate of 87.3%. Most respondents reported as being either “not at all involved” or “little involved” in counselling on smoking cessation (79.3%), and screening for hypertension (86.9%), diabetes (89.5%), and dyslipidemia (88.9%). On the other hand, they reported a higher level of involvement in the management and screening of infectious diseases (72.8%) and counseling with partners when initiating treatment for sexually transmitted diseases (68.9%). Lack of knowledge or clinical skills and lack of personnel or resources were the most commonly reported barrier for expanding such services. This survey revealed a low level of involvement of community pharmacists in public health services. In order to better integrate community pharmacies into future public health programs and optimize the contribution of community pharmacy professionals, interventions should focus on overcoming the identified barriers.

The role of community pharmacists in patient counseling and health education: a survey of their knowledge and level of involvement in relation to type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PurposeThe present study aimed at evaluating the knowledge and level of involvement of community pharmacists in the provision of patient counseling and health education services for patients with DM and perceived barriers that limit the delivery of such services.Materials and methodsA self-administered questionnaire based-survey was undertaken from January to March, 2017 with 412 pharmacists working in community pharmacies in six cities of Amhara regional state of Ethiopia: Debre Markos, Gondar, Dessie, Bahir Dar, Woldya, and Debre Birhan. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and Student’s t-test were employed to examine different variables.ResultsCommunity pharmacists were found to have poor knowledge and low level of involvement, with an overall mean score of 11.54 and 2.06, respectively. A significant number of community pharmacists never practiced promoting smoking cessation (45.2%), counseling on good foot care techniques (33.7%), and counseling on the potential impact of over–the-counter and herbal drugs on DM management (34%). On the other hand, describing the right time to administer antidiabetic medications (46%) and counseling on suitable administration, handling, and storage of insulin (33.7%) were done more frequently. The main reported barriers to the delivery of these services were lack of knowledge or clinical skills, lack of access to additional training programs, and lack of personnel or resources.ConclusionThe present study revealed a poor knowledge and low level of involvement in counseling and health education services for patients with DM. Lack of knowledge or clinical skills was the most commonly reported barrier for providing such services. In order to better integrate community pharmacies into future public health programs and optimize the contribution of pharmacists, interventions should focus on overcoming the identified barriers.