Furthering patient-centered counseling: Exploring new aspects around pharmacists' experiences in pharmacy encounters through video-stimulated recall interviewing

Abstract Background Studies on pharmacy communication have illustrated problems with patient-centeredness. Exploring pharmacists’ experiences of pharmacy counseling in depth is essential to understand what hinders patient-centeredness. Existing studies, based primarily on surveys and qualitative interviews, tap into perceptions of pharmacy counseling that are informed by general conceptualizations rather than what participants actually experience during the encounters. Thus, important aspects of the dynamics of pharmacy encounters might be missed. Objectives To explore the potential of the method video-stimulated recall interview (VSRI)( Wolters et al., 2017) 1 in a pharmacy setting to gain new insights into pharmacists’ experiences of patient encounters. This includes: 1) to investigate the potential of VSRI to reveal accurate and immediate perceptions of pharmacy encounters, and 2) to identify specific perceptions that pharmacists report in VSRIs. Methods Seven VSRIs conducted in 2 different community pharmacies in Denmark were analyzed. Videos of at-the-counter meetings were recorded (interaction1), and then selected for replay in a VSRI between a researcher and the pharmacist featured in the video (interaction2). Descriptive categories that characterized pharmacists’ experiences with the encounter were inferred from interview statements. Results New barriers to patient-centeredness were identified: pharmacists' experiences revealed that they were affected by patients' moods and that they found it inappropriate when patients' disclosed personal perspectives. Also, pharmacists’ seemed to disregard that active listening requires responsiveness and should be seen as a process that pharmacists co-construct together with the patient. Conclusion The method of VSRI proved useful in revealing new dynamics of pharmacy interaction and pinpointing shortcomings in how pharmacists communicate with patients. Based on the findings, suggestions for how to establish better patient-centered communication are provided.