The findings from the seven interviews (three doctors, two pharmacists and two nurses) complemented those from the Delphi study, although they provided more specific suggestions on how to improve the adherence to guidelines. This study, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, has identified several barriers to explore further and offered many practical solutions to improve practice. The importance of a multidisciplinary approach to address guideline non-adherence

was emphasised. Clinical guidelines must be well publicised and well written to prevent a feeling of guideline saturation in the healthcare populous. Novel approaches may have to be investigated selleck chemicals in order to further encourage adherence with antibiotic intravenous-to-oral switch guidelines. “
“Objectives  The aim of the study was to investigate ease of reading, understanding and usefulness of prescription labels in a real-world setting from patients’ and pharmacists’ perspectives. Methods  A prospective, cross-sectional, exploratory study was conducted by interviewing 179 patients and 40 pharmacists in selected community pharmacies. Key findings  The average age of patients was 55 years, 65% were females, and 56.4% had a high-school education or more. Pharmacists’

mean age was 40.4 years with 12.8 years of experience. Self-reported ease of reading find more and understanding was rated as very or somewhat easy by 97.8 and 97.2%, respectively. Most of the patients correctly read (91.6%) and BCKDHA interpreted (89.4%) the label. A majority (90.5%) of patients found the label somewhat or very useful. About half of the pharmacist sample believed patients had difficulty reading or understanding the labels. Conclusions  This study, conducted with a sample that approximated the US population in level of education, found that prescription labels were reported to be useful and easy to read and understand. These

results deviated from previous studies that were conducted in specific populations. Current prescription labels are useful and easy to read and understand by those who have college or higher education but improvements may be needed for specific vulnerable populations. “
“It is with great pleasure that I introduce this supplement to the International Journal of Pharmacy Practice (IJPP). Here, you will find the abstracts of the pharmacy practice research papers and posters presented at the 2011 Royal Pharmaceutical Society Conference, held at Goldsmiths, University of London from 11 to 12 September. The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Ensuring effective teamworking and collaboration with patients and professionals’. Teamwork impacts on us all, regardless of where we work, so we are offering a broad range of choices, including examples of successful local projects and development of leadership and teamworking skills.