Maiss Ahmad, Farah Naja, Hamzah Alzubaidi, Karem H Alzoubi, Qutayba Hamid, Mohamad Alameddine
{"title":"A stakeholders' perspective on enhancing community pharmacists' roles in controlling non-communicable diseases in the United Arab Emirates.","authors":"Maiss Ahmad, Farah Naja, Hamzah Alzubaidi, Karem H Alzoubi, Qutayba Hamid, Mohamad Alameddine","doi":"10.1080/20523211.2024.2404080","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>There is a global call for upscaling and optimising the role of community pharmacists (CPs) in the control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where NCDs are classified as a public health pandemic, upscaling CPs contributions has become more critical. Several contextual, professional, and educational challenges constrain the role of CPs.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>To synthesise the perspectives of key stakeholders in the UAE healthcare system and propose a roadmap for advancing the role of CP s in controlling NCDs in the UAE.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This research followed a qualitative design using the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) framework for quality assurance of pharmacy profession development. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 28 experts and senior leaders, then analysed using the thematic analysis technique with the assistance of NVivo software.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The analysis yielded three main themes that outlined the prospective roadmap: education, work environment, and policy. Some of the generated subthemes were establishing accredited NCD-specialised programmes, building a national framework for interprofessional education and collaboration, and upscaling the engagement of CPs in public health platforms and initiatives.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Improving the role of CPs in controlling the NCD pandemic in the UAE requires coherent and well-structured multidisciplinary endeavours from health policymakers, educational institutions, and all groups of healthcare professionals, including the CPs themselves.</p>","PeriodicalId":16740,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11418057/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/20523211.2024.2404080","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"HEALTH POLICY & SERVICES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: There is a global call for upscaling and optimising the role of community pharmacists (CPs) in the control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where NCDs are classified as a public health pandemic, upscaling CPs contributions has become more critical. Several contextual, professional, and educational challenges constrain the role of CPs.
Objective: To synthesise the perspectives of key stakeholders in the UAE healthcare system and propose a roadmap for advancing the role of CP s in controlling NCDs in the UAE.
Methods: This research followed a qualitative design using the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) framework for quality assurance of pharmacy profession development. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 28 experts and senior leaders, then analysed using the thematic analysis technique with the assistance of NVivo software.
Results: The analysis yielded three main themes that outlined the prospective roadmap: education, work environment, and policy. Some of the generated subthemes were establishing accredited NCD-specialised programmes, building a national framework for interprofessional education and collaboration, and upscaling the engagement of CPs in public health platforms and initiatives.
Conclusion: Improving the role of CPs in controlling the NCD pandemic in the UAE requires coherent and well-structured multidisciplinary endeavours from health policymakers, educational institutions, and all groups of healthcare professionals, including the CPs themselves.