Pharmacy students’ self-reported attitudes, beliefs and behaviours about communicating with patients, measured over time

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.