Workload, Data Gathering, and Quality of Community Pharmacists' Advice

Traditionally, the pharmacist has been viewed as an important source of medication-related information for the public. In the last few years, this role has been supported by a professional philosophy called "pharmaceutical care."' Because patient counselling has become a defining characteristic of the new role of the pharmacist, the quality of cognitive services offered by community pharmacists has become a subject of research for pharmacy educators. Early studies were very disappointing for advocates of the new role of the pharmacist.2-6 Recent studies suggest that there has been some improvement in frequency and quality of patient counselling,7'8 however relatively little is known concerning those factors that underlie successful counselling.