A5 - Improving pharmacy research: Spotlight on research design, methods and dissemination

Armadillo

Organised by the FIP Hospital Pharmacy Section in collaboration with the FIP Academic Pharmacy Section and the FIP SIG on Pharmacy Practice Research

Chairs

Jonathan Penm (Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sydney, Australia) and Martin Schulz (Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany)

Introduction

Pharmacists are frequently engaged in quality-improvement activities and pharmacy practice research. Just as sharing the results of clinical research is an obligation of clinical investigators, pharmacists producing meaningful information through quality improvement and practice research may also have that obligation. This session will assist pharmacists to develop pharmacy practice and quality-improvement initiatives and identify ways to publish their results in peer-reviewed journals. We will use real-life examples of pharmacy practice research this session to highlight research being published by pharmacists and update participants on the latest practices.

Programme

12:30 – 12:35 Introduction by the chairs

  1. 12:35 – 13:10 Proving the value: Levels of evidence in pharmacy practice
    Fernando Fernandez-Llimos (University of Lisbon, Portugal)
  2. 13:10 -13:45 Examples of pharmacy practice research – Pros, cons and practical tips for design and conduct
    Ross Tsuyuki (University of Alberta, Canada)
  3. 13:45 – 14:20 Now what? Identifying practice gaps and publishing your quality-improvement initiatives
    Ana Hincapie (University of Cincinnati, USA)

14:20 – 14:30 Conclusion by the chairs

Learning Objectives

At the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  1. Classify the levels of evidence used in pharmacy practice research;
  2. Contrast the strengths and limitations of different study types and when each of them are appropriate to use;
  3. Perform pharmacy practice research, using seamless care in cardiovascular patients as an example;
  4. Analyse potential journals to pursue publication of continuous quality-improvement initiatives in pharmacy and what to expect from the publication process.

Type of session: Application-based