Years in Practice, Differences in Perspectives: Survey Findings From Age‐Friendly Pharmacists
Barbara J. Zarowitz, Emily Francis, Avra Thomas, Dagmara Zajac, Michael Brodeur, Donna Bartlett, Nicole BrandtABSTRACT
Background
Early adoption of innovation is important for the implementation of evidence‐based practices. Care of older adults using Age‐Friendly practices optimizes the What Matters, Medication, Mobility, and Mentation (4Ms) framework. Within the first year of availability, over 1900 individuals acquired Age‐Friendly pharmacist recognition. The purpose of this study is to characterize the demographics, preparedness, motivation, and professional association affiliation of pharmacists who received Age‐Friendly recognition.
Methods
A quantitative survey was administered to all participants as the last of four steps in Age‐Friendly pharmacist recognition. The target population was Age‐Friendly pharmacists who self‐administer the online questionnaire. New practitioners (within 6 years of graduation) and pharmacists with 6+ (6+) years of practice were compared using descriptive statistics.
Results
Between March 2025 and February 2026, 1953 individuals received Age‐Friendly Pharmacist recognition, 285 (15.4% of cohort) of whom were new practitioners with a mean age of 29.7 ± 4.4 years and 74.4% female. The 6+ group comprised 1567 (84.6% of cohort) pharmacists, mean age 45.3 ± 9.1 years, and 74.6% female. One quarter of new practitioners and 57.4% of the 6+ group were board‐certified. Of those who were board‐certified, 34% of new practitioners were board‐certified in geriatrics and pharmacotherapy, whereas geriatrics certification was prevalent (82.2%) in the 6+ group. Improving the quality of care was the primary motivation to seek Age‐Friendly recognition for both groups, followed by free continuing education, a digital badge, and advancing their skill set. New practitioners learned about Age‐Friendly recognition from employers (46.7%), peers (39.1%), and social media (18.6%), whereas the 6+ group learned about Age‐Friendly on the ASCP website (43.3%). For both groups, employers played an important role in disseminating information about and in supporting pharmacists to achieve Age‐Friendly recognition.
Conclusion
Highly qualified pharmacists were motivated to seek Age‐Friendly recognition by a desire to improve the quality of care for older adults, free continuing education, a digital badge, and to advance their skill set.