Barriers to the use of pharmacy services: the case of ethnic populations.

The barriers that minority populations face with respect to the use of pharmacy services may differ from those faced by other populations. A pretested questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample of 96 Vietnamese residents of a mid-size Midwestern city. Perceptions of five common barriers to pharmacy services were investigated. Financial difficulty (47%), language (25%), and physical illness (14%) were the most serious barriers to pharmacy services, followed by transportation and unemployment. These researchers propose seven broad strategies that pharmacists might use to minimize the effect of the barriers. The use of these strategies could benefit patients by improving their health, and increase opportunities for pharmacists to provide pharmaceutical care to the rapidly growing Vietnamese community and other ethnic populations.