The effect of a CPD training (educational) intervention on the level of HIV knowledge of pharmacists
Keywords:
CD and printed manual teaching material, CPD, HIV/AIDS, outcomesAbstract
Introduction: Due to the huge impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa, it is critical that all health care professionals make the maximum possible contribution to prevention and care. Pharmacists in practice, who may have learnt little about the disease during their training, require to be taught and updated. We designed and implemented a continuing professional development (CPD) programme for this purpose. Learning materials were compact disc (CD) based and in print format.
Aim: The main objective of the study described in this paper was to determine the effect of the training course on the level of knowledge of community pharmacists in South Africa and to identify whether any differences occurred between study group sub-groups which received the manual only or the CD plus the instructional manual.
Method: We utilised a pre-intervention/post-intervention study design, with control and study groups, which also identified knowledge gaps at baseline. Questions in the research instrument were classified into five categories, transmission, testing and counselling, treatment, diagnosis and compliance/adherence. Differences between pre- and post-intervention results for the two groups were calculated, compared and analysed statistically and for effect size. Each respondent served as her/his own control.
Results: The differences between the sub-groups at post-test 1 were small and not statistically significant. We therefore combined them and compared the performance of the study group as a whole against that of the control group. In three of the five knowledge categories baseline scores were low (average scores around 50%). In the study group, these three categories showed highly significant increases at post-intervention (scores improved by between 20 and 30%), as did the overall response. The total effect size was high (0.85).
Conclusion: The CPD programme on the pharmacist in HIV/AIDS management tested in this study is highly effective in improving the knowledge base of participating pharmacists and hence preparing them for a wider role in reducing the effect of the pandemic.
References
African Development Forum. (2000). The leadership challenge and the way forward: HIV/AIDS and education in Eastern and Southern Africa; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (December 2000). Available from www.uneca.org
Albanese, M. (2000). Problem-based learning: Why curricula are likely to show little effect on knowledge and clinical skills. Medical Education, 34, 729–738.
Coe, R. (2000). What is an effect size? Durham University: CEM Centre. Available from http://cem.dur.ac.uk/ebeuk/research/ effectsize/ESbrief.htm
Hepler, C. D., & Strand, L. M. (1990). Opportunities and responsibilities in pharmaceutical care. American Journal of Hospital Pharmacy, 47(3), 533–543.
Katz, M. D., Draugalis, J. R., & Lai Katz, R. P. (1995). HIV infection and AIDS: Attitudes and knowledge of Arizona pharmacists. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 29(12), 1218–1223.
Katz, M. D., Draugalis, J. R., & Lai Katz, R. P. (2000). Arizona pharmacists: Their attitudes, knowledge and role in HIV therapy—a five year update. Unpublished personal correspon- dence.
Lipsey, M. W. (1990a). Effect size: The problematic parameter. In Design sensitivity statistical power for experimental research, 2nd ed. (3, pp. 47–68). Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications Inc.
Lipsey, M. W. (1990b). The statistical power framework. In Design sensitivity statistical power for experimental research, 2nd ed. (2, pp. 28 – 46). Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications Inc.
Myers, T. (1998). Community pharmacist perspectives on HIV/AIDS and interventions for injection drug users in Canada. AIDS Care, 10(6), 689–700.
Operational plan for comprehensive HIV and AIDS care, manage- ment and treatment for South Africa (19 November 2003). Available from www.doh.gov.za
Sheridan, J., Strang, J., Taylor, C., & Barber, N. (1997). HIV prevention and drug treatment services for drug misusers: A national study of community pharmacists’ attitudes and their involvement in service specific training. Addiction, 92(12), 1737 – 1748.
South African Pharmacy Council. (2003). Position paper: The role of the pharmacist in the management of HIV/AIDS, TB and STI’s. Pretoria: South African Pharmacy Council.
Trochim, W. M. K. (2002). Research methods knowledge base, relationships among pre-post designs. Available from http://
www.alnresearch.org
UNAIDS/WHO AIDS epidemic update December (2001), www.unaids.org (Accessed 28 June 2002).
Watson, L., Bond, C., & Gault, C. (2003). A survey of community
pharmacists on prevention of HIV and hepatitis B and C: Current practice and attitudes in Grampian. Journal of Public Health Medicine, 25(1), 13–18.
www.aidsmap.com (3 December 2003). South Africa announces treatment roll out—and begins search for health care workers.
www.fip.org (2001). FIP-WHO working group on AIDS and drug addiction.
Zappa, A. J. (1999). The role of the pharmacist in the management of HIV/AIDS. Disease Management and Health Outcomes, 6(1), 19–28.
