Using a harm reduction lens to examine post-intervention results of medical abortion training among Zambian pharmacists
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3972123 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tamara Fetters (0000-0002-1921-1313, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Keris Raisanen (Oldham Council), Stephen Mupeta (United Nations Population Fund), Isikanda Malisikwanda, Bellington Vwalika (0000-0001-5548-8187, University of Zambia), Joachim Osur (0000-0003-0003-7885, Amref Health Africa), Sally Dijkerman (0000-0002-1926-3615, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | sup44 |
| Pages | 116-124 |
| Publication date | 2014-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Reproductive Health Matters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0968-8080 • E-ISSN: 1460-9576 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1016/s0968-8080(14)43794-7 |
| PMID | 25702075 |
| OpenAlex | W2004280208 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 12 |
Despite broad grounds for legal abortion in Zambia, access to abortion services remains limited. Pharmacy workers, a primary source of health care for communities, present an opportunity to bridge the gap between policy and practice. As part of a larger operations study, 80 pharmacy workers, both registered pharmacists and their assistants, participated in a training on medical abortion in 2009 and 2010. Fifty-five of the 80 pharmacy workers completed an anonymous, structured training pre-test, treated as a baseline questionnaire; 53 of the 80 trainees were interviewed 12-24 months post-training in face-to-face interviews to measure the retention of information and training effectiveness. Survey questions were selected to illustrate the principles of a harm reduction approach to unsafe abortion. Bivariate analysis was used to examine pharmacy worker knowledge, attitudes and dispensing behaviours pre-training and at follow-up. A higher percentage of pharmacy workers reported referring women to a health care facility between surveys (47% to 68%, p = 0.03). The number of pharmacy workers who reported dispensing ineffective abortifacients decreased from baseline to end-line (30% to 25%) but the difference was non-significant. However, study results demonstrate that Zambian pharmacy workers have a role to play in safe abortion services and some are willing to play that role
Abortion · Family medicine · Harm · Health care · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Reproductive Health and Contraception · Reproductive tract infections research · Pharmacy
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2021 (6) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |