Characteristics of pharmacists who enrolled in the pilot ADAPT Education Program: Implications for practice change.

Research has shown that patient-centred pharmacist interventions can be effective in a wide range of practice settings and disease states.1–6 In recent years, several Canadian jurisdictions have begun to pay for pharmacist-led clinical services such as medication reviews, minor ailment management and smoking cessation counselling.7 Unfortunately, it has been widely reported that uptake of these services is often unimpressive, even when remuneration is available. 8,9 Several barriers to practice change have been previously identified, including pharmacists' time constraints, patient apathy, limited support from physicians and pharmacy managers, disruption of workflow, inadequate reimbursement and even the culture of the pharmacy profession.10,11 Consequently, progress towards realizing pharmacists' full potential within the health system continues to be very slow.10 However, some pharmacists do embrace change and successfully implement new interventions, despite the systemic barriers that exist.12 These individuals take on risks and new responsibilities to defy the cultural norms set by their colleagues. Unfortunately, little is known about these early-adopters and what makes them succeed. A detailed evaluation of the participants in the pilot of the ADAPT (ADapting pharmacists' skills and Approaches to maximize Patient's drug Therapy effectiveness) Education Program may provide some insight. This paper describes the ADAPT pilot participants' demographics, characteristics, preparedness, motivation and reasons for participating. The goal of this paper is to better understand the pharmacists who were willing to engage with this novel, timeintensive education program. This information can provide valuable insight into the types of pharmacists striving to change their practice.