Simulated caregivers: their feasibility in educating pharmacy staff to manage children's ailments.

BACKGROUND: Community pharmacy staff play a crucial role in the management of common childhood ailments. Simulated patient studies have not yet explored the management of children's cough/cold and fever, nor have many previous studies used simulated patient methods with focus on self-assessment as a training tool to shape future counselling behaviour.
OBJECTIVES: To assess and shape the counselling behavior of pharmacy staff when dealing with children's cough/cold and fever; investigate influential factors of counselling behavior; and explore participant perceptions of simulated patient methods as a training tool, with particular emphasis on self-assessment.
SETTING: Community pharmacies in the inner city region of metropolitan Sydney.
METHOD: Six simulated caregivers visited eight community pharmacies. After applying their scenario, the interaction was scored and immediate performance feedback was delivered in the form of self-assessment. Semi-structured interviews followed, focusing on participant perceptions of self-assessment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Scores for each simulated patient interaction, and qualitative interviews responses from participants.
RESULTS: The highest mean percentage score achieved was for the symptom based request for a cough/cold remedy in a five year old (48 ± 14.3 %), while the lowest was the direct product request equivalent (22 ± 8.5 %). Qualitative results showed that simulated patient visits were viewed positively and self-assessment was highly regarded.
CONCLUSION: Using simulated caregivers in pharmacy to assess and improve children's cough/cold and fever management is feasible and acceptable. The opportunity to self-assess is particularly beneficial, allowing participants to demonstrate key psychology principles associated with behaviour change.