Abstract
Background: Pharmacy students receive training to effectively communicate with patients about their medications. Objectives: A theory-based approach (Communication Accommodation Theory [CAT]) was used to investigate the impact of communication skills’ tutorials on Pharmacy students’ self-reported attitudes, beliefs and behaviours in patient communication. Methods: Final year Pharmacy students completed an online, 30-item, patient-centred communication survey at three points in time, before and after attending three CAT-based tutorials (Survey #1 and Survey #2). Survey #3 was distributed six to twelve months into students’ intern training year (post-graduation). Differences between participants’ responses over time were measured and analysed. Results: Response rates were 78% for Survey #1, 84% for Survey #2, and 28% for Survey #3. Further analysis indicated that Survey #3 respondents were not statistically different from the larger sample size. Key areas changed from baseline (Survey #1) to post tutorials (Survey #2) and were sustained well into Pharmacy students’ intern year (Survey #3). Conclusions: This novel research indicated growing awareness and retention of key communication behaviours over time.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 116-126 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Pharmacy Education |
Volume | 20 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 5 Jun 2020 |
Keywords
- Communication
- Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT)
- Patient-centred Communication Tool
- Pharmacy Student
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Education
- Pharmacy
- Pharmaceutical Science