Pharmacists’ role, work practices, and safety measures against COVID-19: A comparative study

Abstract

\n Background\n The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic poses a great challenge to health systems and their most accessible assets—community pharmacies. Pharmacists faced many challenges such as incorporating safety measures, changes in working schedule and workload, and meeting specific patients’ needs.\n \n Objectives\n This study aimed to explore and compare the community pharmacists’ roles, practices, implemented safety measures, and psychological toll in Croatia and Serbia during the COVID-19 pandemic.\n \n Methods\n A cross-sectional study employing an online survey was conducted in two countries over a period of 6 weeks during 2020. The survey consisted of 65 items that explored sociodemographic characteristics of participants and their workplaces, including safety measures, pharmaceutical care, and their psychology while working during the COVID-19 pandemic.\n \n Results\n In total, 574 pharmacists participated in the study, of which 90% were female with a mean age of 38 years (interquartile range 30.5–47). Study identified new pharmacists’ roles that evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic; manufacturing hand sanitizers in community pharmacies, online patient counseling and medicine home delivery. Croatian and Serbian pharmacists exhibited disparities in their incorporated safety measures (higher for Croatia; p ≤ 0.001), satisfaction with work organization and counseling activities (higher for Serbia; p < 0.001). Serbian participants were less satisfied with the public perception of their role during the pandemic, and overall satisfaction was low, with a negative impact on mood and productivity.\n \n Conclusions\n The study revealed the implications for community pharmacists during the pandemic in both countries. The extent of systematic and logistical support provided to them during the pandemic could be an explanation for the highlighted differences. It is imperative to develop a more effective strategy to counter potential health crises to ensure a better response from primary care pharmacists in the future.\n