Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Jeanine K. Mount, PhD¹, Minhee Kim, MS¹, Salisa C. Westrick, PhD², and Suntaree Watcharadamrongkun, MS¹. (1) School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 777 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53705-2222, 608-262-8678, jkmount@pharmacy.wisc.edu, (2) Harrison School of Pharmacy, Auburn University, 128 Miller Building, Auburn University, AL 36849

Purpose: Recent events have showed how critical the availability of pharmacy services is during disasters. The 60,000 community pharmacies in the U.S. are important partners for agencies responsible for emergency preparedness and response (EPR). Nonetheless, little is known about the extent to which these pharmacies are involved in local, regional, state or national EPR efforts. This paper describes such participation and examines how relevant public agencies can encourage greater participation.

Methods: Telephone interviews were completed from 6/2005-2/2006 with key informants in 1760 of 2550 (69%) community pharmacies randomly sampled from 17 states. Respondents indicated whether pharmacy members participate in health emergency preparedness (at local, regional, state and/or national levels) and, if not, whether there are plans to become involved. Information also was gathered about potential predictors of pharmacy participation in EPR, as presented below. Data analysis used logistic regression techniques.

Results: Overall, 16.2% of pharmacies currently participate in EPR efforts at the local, regional, state and/or federal level; 12.7% of those not currently involved indicated they plan to become involved. The probability of participating was significantly higher if: 1) a pharmacist had received emergency response training, 2) there was greater awareness of EPR efforts, 3) public health agencies were seen as supportive of pharmacy participation in EPR, and 4) the pharmacist saw EPR as part of his/her role.

Conclusions: Community pharmacies are an under-engaged but generally receptive resource for emergency preparedness and response efforts. Outreach by agencies responsible for coordinating EPR efforts could facilitate substantial expansion of pharmacy participation.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the extent and areas of community pharmacy participation in emergency preparedness activities.
• Identify how participation in emergency preparedness activities is influenced by awareness of emergency preparedness efforts and by support of public health groups.
• Discuss implications of these results for expanding community-based participation in emergency preparedness and response.

Keywords: Pharmacies, Disasters

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation