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Policy versus practice: a community-based qualitative study of the realities of pharmacy services in Nunavut, Canada

Overview of attention for article published in Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, September 2015
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • Among the highest-scoring outputs from this source (#48 of 407)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (88th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (91st percentile)

Mentioned by

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1 news outlet
twitter
2 X users
facebook
1 Facebook page

Citations

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8 Dimensions

Readers on

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61 Mendeley
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Title
Policy versus practice: a community-based qualitative study of the realities of pharmacy services in Nunavut, Canada
Published in
Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, September 2015
DOI 10.1186/s40545-015-0043-5
Pubmed ID
Authors

Sandra J. Romain, Jillian C. Kohler, Kue Young

Abstract

Nunavut is an Arctic territory in Canada subject to many social, economic and health disparities in comparison to the rest of the nation. The territory is affected by health care provision challenges caused by small, geographically isolated communities where staffing shortages and weather related access barriers are common concerns. In addition to national universal healthcare, the majority of the inhabitants of Nunavut (~85 %) are Inuit beneficiaries of no-charge pharmaceuticals provided through federal and/or territorial budgetary allocations. This research examines how existing pharmaceutical administration and distribution policies and practices in Nunavut impact patient care. This grounded theory research includes document analysis and semi-structured interviews conducted in 2013/14 with patients, health care providers, administrators and policy makers in several communities in Nunavut. Thirty five informants in total participated in the study. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and analyzed with qualitative data analysis software for internal consistency and emerging themes. Four distinct themes emerge from the research that have the potential to impact patient care and which may provide direction for future policy development: 1) tensions between national versus territorial financial responsibilities influence health provider decisions that may affect patient care, 2) significant human resources are utilized in Community Health Centres to perform distribution duties associated with retail pharmacy medications, 3) large quantities of unclaimed prescription medications are suggestive of significant financial losses, suboptimal patient care and low adherence rates, and 4) the absence of a clear policy and oversight for some controlled substances, such as narcotics, leaves communities at risk for potential illegal procurement or abuse. Addressing these issues in future policy development may result in system-wide economic benefits, improved patient care and adherence, and reduced risk to communities. The interview informants who participated in this research are best positioned to identify issues in need of attention and will benefit the most from policy development to address their concerns.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 2 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 61 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 61 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 13 21%
Student > Bachelor 9 15%
Researcher 9 15%
Student > Ph. D. Student 6 10%
Other 4 7%
Other 7 11%
Unknown 13 21%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 9 15%
Social Sciences 9 15%
Nursing and Health Professions 8 13%
Psychology 4 7%
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 3 5%
Other 12 20%
Unknown 16 26%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 14. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 10 December 2015.
All research outputs
#2,185,458
of 22,829,083 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice
#48
of 407 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#31,981
of 274,256 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice
#1
of 12 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,829,083 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 90th percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 407 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 11.2. This one has done well, scoring higher than 88% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 274,256 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 88% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 12 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 91% of its contemporaries.