Abstract

Background: Pharmaceutical care practice has been championed as the primary mission of the pharmacy profession, but its implementation has been suboptimal in many developing countries including Kuwait. Pharmacists must have sufficient knowledge, skills, and positive attitudes to practise pharmaceutical care, and barriers in the pharmacy practice model must be overcome before pharmaceutical care can be broadly implemented in a given healthcare system.

Objective: To investigate hospital pharmacists' attitudes towards pharmaceutical care, perceptions of their preparedness to provide pharmaceutical care, and the barriers to its implementation in Kuwait.

Setting: Six general hospitals, eight specialized hospitals and seven specialized health centers in Kuwait.

Method: A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was distributed to all pharmacists working in the governmental hospitals in Kuwait (385 pharmacists). Data were collected via a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics including percentages, medians and means Likert scale rating (standard deviations) were calculated and compared using statistical package for social sciences, version 20. Statistical significance was accepted at a p value of <0.05.

Main outcome measure: Pharmacists' attitudes towards pharmaceutical care, perceptions of their preparedness to provide pharmaceutical care competencies, and the barriers to its implementation in Kuwait.

Results: Completed surveys were received from 250 (64.9%) of the 385 pharmacists. Pharmacists expressed overall positive attitudes towards pharmaceutical care. They felt well prepared to implement the various aspects of pharmaceutical care, with the least preparedness in the administrative/management aspects. Pharmacists with more practice experience expressed significantly more positive attitudes towards pharmaceutical care (p = 0.001) and they felt better prepared to provide pharmaceutical care competencies (p < 0.001) than those with less experience as practitioners. The respondents agreed/strongly agreed that the most significant barriers to the integration of pharmaceutical care into practice were lack of private counseling areas or inappropriate pharmacy layout (87.6%), organizational obstacles (81.6%), inadequate staff (79.6%), and lack of pharmacist time and adequate technology (76.0%).

Conclusion: Hospital pharmacists in Kuwait advocate implementation of pharmaceutical care while also appreciating the organizational, technical and professional barriers to its widespread adoption. Collaborative efforts between health authorities and educational institutions, and the integration of innovative approaches in pharmacy management and education could overcome these barriers and achieve the transition towards pharmaceutical care practice.