Pharmacy staff perception of the suitability of an app-based medication adherence service and strategies for implementation - A Swiss national survey
Kirstin Messner, Meret Berger, Lena Walz, Samuel AllemannBackground
With the evolving role of pharmacies over past decades, app-based medication adherence services have gained more attention in health services research. However, it is unclear how pharmacy staff members, as key stakeholders in implementing the service, perceive its suitability and how its introduction in practice could be facilitated.
Aim
To investigate pharmacy staff perceptions of the suitability of an app-based therapy support and to identify practice-relevant strategies for its implementation in community pharmacies.
Methods
We conducted an anonymous online survey among Swiss pharmacy staff (approximately 24,000 individuals) to evaluate suitability of app-based adherence services, usefulness of 14 different implementation strategies, and feasibility of 12 implementation strategies. We analyzed participants’ ratings of each statement using a 5-point Likert scale. We performed subgroup analyses within the categories age, sex, work experience, location, and role in the pharmacy.
Results
A total of 233 participants (mean age 45 years, 79% female, 90% pharmacists) completed the survey. Over 95% of participants strongly agreed on the general need for adherence support and over 80% perceived app-based services as particularly suitable for patients with chronic medication or polypharmacy. Willingness to offer app-based services received high agreement. With over 90% of participants indicating agreement or high agreement, implementation strategies such as access to a support person, using informational materials, and participating in training sessions emerged as particularly useful and feasible.
Conclusion
Pharmacy staff members acknowledge the need for adherence support and appear open to provide an app-based service. The findings emphasize the need for structured implementation planning and staff training ahead of national rollout. Highly rated strategies represent promising approaches to facilitate service implementation in practice.