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• evaluation of the pilot program and design of a draft national strategy, for consultation
with the Pharmacy Guild Expert Advisory Group (EAG) and the Pharmacy Guild, in
October and November 2005.
This report presents a summary of each of the elements, the methodology applied, the
findings and the application of those findings to the pilot program.
Chapter 2, Methodology, discusses the literature review, information collection, expert
advice, and stakeholder consultations undertaken to develop the materials for the training
and evaluation components of this project. It also discusses the tools and methods applied in
the training program for pharmacists and pharmacy assistants, and the evaluation of
outcomes and effectiveness of the pilot program.
Chapter 3 Implementation of the Pilot Program, summarises the implementation processes
and results of the PCCP pilot program. The pilot relied on delivering training, and evaluating
the effectiveness of that training, in a sample of pharmacies that was sufficient in size and
demographic distribution to provide reliable information that could be used to draw
conclusions about a wider scale implementation. Consequently the project team undertook a
recruitment strategy to achieve participation by pharmacies from all states and territories
and all broad regional groupings: metropolitan, regional, rural, and remote. A recruitment
target of 50 pharmacies across this range was set and achieved at commencement of
training. Ten per cent (5) of these subsequently withdrew once training commenced, for a
variety of reasons, mostly related to the availability of staff, time or both, and an additional
pharmacy was included after a late response.
The central purpose of this project was to assess the benefits of the pilot education and
training program, in continence health issues and continence care, to pharmacy practice, in
pharmacy contribution to primary health care services, and to consumers. Chapter 4 reports
on the Outcomes and Effectiveness evaluation that has been undertaken, based on parallel
and two-stage surveys of participating pharmacies and of recruited consumer survey
participants. NOVA team members conducted structured telephone interviews with
nominated personnel in each participating pharmacy, at the inception of the program prior to
the training provided in each pharmacy (the Pharmacy Intake Questionnaire - PIQ), and
again at the conclusion of the pilot program trial period in each pharmacy (the Pharmacy Exit
Questionnaire - PEQ). A self-administered questionnaire providing pharmacy feedback on the
training experience and outcomes was provided for completion by participating pharmacies
at the conclusion of the program of training in each pharmacy.
A recruitment target of 500 participating consumers was established, based on the estimated
numbers and proportion of customers with incontinence or caring for a person with
incontinence in the general population and the population attending community pharmacies.
A follow-up survey by Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) with a randomly
selected sub-sample of 300 participating consumers was planned. Recruitment of consumers
by pharmacies was very low, with only nine per cent of the target sample (45 consumers)
recruited by pharmacies, despite various incentive and support strategies discussed in
Chapter 4. The follow-up CATI survey was not undertaken randomly, given the low
participation rate, and 30 of the consumers who consented to follow-up were subsequently
re-interviewed. Of these, 18 consented to further interview, and the project team will
undertake a semi-structured interview with those of this group who are available during
November 2005, to obtain further and personal detail that can be used as de-identified case
study material in information for pharmacies and consumers, in the future national
implementation of this training program.
As part of the program, pharmacies were encouraged to seek feedback from their customers
to gauge their satisfaction with the service they received from the pharmacy in relation to
Final Report
4
NOVA Public Policy
Pharmacy Continence Care Project