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Guest Post: RESEARCH PARTICIPATION OPPORTUNITY
“Selling Health” – share your insights on being both a health care provider and retailer
In September 2014, a community pharmacist in the small town of Baddeck, Nova Scotia, made news by removing all sugar sweetened beverages from his pharmacy. When questioned about his objectives, the pharmacist noted the health harms caused by excess sugar consumption and remarked, “It made no sense to me. Just in good conscience, we just couldn't continue selling.” Ethical dilemmas in pharmacy practice typically centre on pharmacists’ professional roles, and are often presented as conflicts between the freedom to act on moral or religious beliefs (matters of conscience), and their professional duties and responsibilities. However, to date, no research has examined pharmacists’ perspectives on the sale of front-of-store products and tensions that may exist at the intersection of health care provision and business sustainability.
Pharmacists in BC are invited to participate in a CIHR-funded study investigating the ethical perspectives on front-of-store sales in Canadian pharmacies called “Selling Health.” Our research seeks to explore potential ethical dilemmas pharmacists face because of their dual roles as healthcare providers and business owners or employees. We will be conducting semi-structured interviews with practicing community pharmacists where we hope to gain insight into perspectives on this dual role.
We hope to have interested participants complete a preliminary survey on Qualtrics, and based on these responses, we will select participants for a one-hour telephone interview. To qualify for this study, you must be a licensed, practicing pharmacist in British Columbia and fluent in English. We hope to receive participants from both rural and urban settings and from a variety of pharmacy settings. For the purposes of our research, this interview will be recorded, and no identifying information will be used. Completing the survey does not mean you must participate in an interview.
If you would like to participate in this study or have any questions, please contact our research coordinator Stephanie Gellatly at [email protected] or Dr. Jacob Shelley at [email protected] to learn more.
About the “Selling Health” National Study
This national study is funded by a CIHR Catalyst Grant. The research team is led by Dr. Jacob Shelley who holds a joint appointment with the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Health Sciences at Western University, along with Dr. Leia Minaker, an assistant professor in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo, who research primarily focuses on healthy cities and social determinants of health. Other investigators on this study include Michael Burgess (University of British Columbia), Candace Necyk (University of Alberta), Sherilyn Houle (University of Waterloo), Catherine Mah (Dalhousie University), Ubaka Ogbogu (University of Alberta), Charles Weijer (University of Western Ontario), and Debbie Rudman (University of Western Ontario). The group consists of professors of pharmacy, ethics, public health, and law.
GUEST POST DISCLAIMER
ReadLinks Guest Posts are intended to expose the public and pharmacy professionals to a diverse range of knowledge, and expertise, with the goal of expanding awareness of issues related to public safety and pharmacy practice. While the College enforces strict Guest Post Submission Guidelines, the views and opinions expressed in Guest Posts articles are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official standards or positions of the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia.