Action Research to Resolve the Problems of Illegal Advertising of Health Products in Pharmacies in Chonburi Province

Abstract

Objective: To address the issue of illicit advertising of health products (AHP) within community pharmacies in Chonburi. Methods: This action research employed the PDCA quality cycle framework in 120 owners of modern pharmacies. The Plan phase (P) involved focus group discussion among 18 key informants whose work related to AHP in pharmacies, and having more than 10 years of experience in this field. The informants analyzed and prioritized the problems, designed the program to resolve the problems, and planed for program implementation. The Do phase (D) was the implementation of program designed in the Plan phase. A questionnaire was used to measure pharmacy owners’ knowledge on laws related to AHP, attitudes about legal AHP, and awareness of the impact of illicit AHP before and after participating in the program activities. The researchers visited the pharmacies to inspect legal compliance of AHP 2 weeks after the activities. In the Check phase (C), a focus group discussion of 18 key informants in the planning phase was held to evaluate the program according to the specified goals, reflect on the problems and suggest how to resolve them in the next cycle of effort. In Act stage (A) was the revision of strategies to avoid problems encountered during the PDC stage in order to strengthen the program and expanding it to other areas. Results: Three factors leading to legal violation of AHP were 1) lack of related knowledge or ignorance of pharmacy owners and/or pharmacy practitioners; 2) poor attitudes towards legal compliance on AHP; and 3) lack of awareness of the impact of AHP. The program for addressing illicit AHP in pharmacies involved 4 activities including 1) knowledge building activities, 2) attitude change activities, and 3) activities for raising awareness of the impact of AHP; and 4) correction of AHP in pharmacy. After participating in the activities, there was a statistically significant increase in the scores on knowledge on the law relating to AHP, attitudes toward legal AHP and awareness of impact of AHP, compared to those measured before participating in the activities (P<0.05). Assessment of all pharmacies did not find any illegal acts related to AHP Conclusion: Addressing the offenses associated with AHP in pharmacies through action research was effective, leading pharmacy owners to legally advertise health products.