Attitudes of pharmacists to provision of Home Medicines Review for Indigenous Australians

Background Home Medicines Reviews could improve the quality use of medicines and medicines adherence among Aboriginal people. Despite high level of chronic disease very few Home Medicines Review are currently being conducted for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Objective The aim of this research was to explore the barriers and facilitators from the pharmacists’ perspective for the provision of Home Medicines Review to Aboriginal people attending Aboriginal Health Services. Setting A cross sectional survey was used to gather demographic, qualitative and quantitative data from 945 Australian pharmacists accredited to undertake Home Medicines Review. Method The survey consisted of 39 items which included both closed, open ended and Likert scale questions. Data was extracted from the online survey tool and analysed. Descriptive statistics were used to explore the quantitative data while qualitative data was thematically analysed and coded for emergent themes. Main outcome measure Number of Home Medicines Review conducted for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients. Results A total of 187 accredited pharmacists responded to the survey. They reported that barriers to Home Medicines Review to Aboriginal patients may include lack of understanding of cultural issues by pharmacists; lack of awareness of Home Medicines Review program by Aboriginal Health Service staff; difficulties in implementation of Home Medicine Review processes; burdensome program rules; the lack of patient–pharmacist relationship, and the lack of pharmacist–Aboriginal Health Service relationship. Conclusion Changes to the medication review processes and rules are needed to improve the accessibility of the Home Medicine Review program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Improved relationships between pharmacists and Aboriginal health service staff, would increase the likelihood of more Home Medicines Reviews being conducted with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients.