RPS Conference 2010, Abstracts 2010 - Royal Pharmaceutical Society

25
Influence of relationships, trust and rapport on pharmacist-patient communication
Nicola Greenhill 1,2 , Claire Anderson 1 , Tony Avery 1 , Alison Pilnick 1
1 The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom, 2 Milton Keynes Hospital NHS
Foundation Trust, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
Focal Points
• This study aimed to explore pharmacist-patient communication, including participant
perceptions of communication.
• Patients and pharmacists reported that building relationships and trust is important
in conducting effective consultations and observed consultations demonstrated
attention to this task.
• Building relationships improves pharmacist-patient communication and ultimately,
patient care.
Introduction
The importance of communication skills for pharmacists has been widely acknowledged (1,2) .
Research has shown that the use of good communication skills by pharmacists can ultimately
improve patient health outcomes (3) but little research has focussed on the communication skills
used during new consultation based roles of pharmacists. This study aimed to explore the
communication between pharmacists and patients in appointment-based consultations and to
investigate participant perceptions of communication and consultations within pharmacy.
Method
Eleven pharmacists conducting appointment-based consultations with patients were recruited to
the study and were responsible for the recruitment of patients to the study from their own
practice; five pharmacists recruited a total of 18 patients. A semi-structured interview was
conducted with each pharmacist at the beginning of the study, and with each patient before and
after their consultation. Consultations were audio-recorded and observed and recordings were
transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis based on the principles of grounded theory was
conducted and observational notes were used to aid with contextualisation. In addition,
consultation recordings were coded according to use of skills within the Calgary–Cambridge
guide (4) . NHS Ethics Committee and local R&D committee approvals were obtained.
Results
One of the key themes to emerge from the data was the importance of building relationships.
Both pharmacists and patients reported that building relationships is beneficial to the
consultation. Patients reported that building relationships provided more opportunities for social
conversations which were highly valued. Stronger relationships with pharmacists were linked to
an increased confidence in asking questions and seeking advice, and an improved continuity of
care that enabled tailored consultations. When consulting a pharmacist for the first time,
patients reported that an initial rapport could compensate for the lack of past relationship.
Pharmacists reported that building up relationships with patients helped to ensure that patients
felt able to discuss personal information. Conveying empathy to patients was also found to be
important in facilitating consultations and ensuring that patients felt their contributions were
valued by the pharmacist. In addition to participant reports, much of the content of the recorded