B. Murphy et al., THE ROLE OF GENERAL-PRACTITIONERS AND PHARMACISTS IN INFORMATION EXCHANGE WITH FAMILY CARERS, Australian and New Zealand journal of public health, 21(3), 1997, pp. 317-322
As a trial of the provision of community-service information to family
carers, general practitioners and pharmacists from the Western region
of Melbourne were supplied with tear-off pads listing suburb-specific
community services, and were encouraged to discuss service needs with
carers of people with disabilities and distribute the lists to carers
accordingly One hundred and nine general practitioners and 58 pharmac
ists participated in pretrial and post-trial interviews assessing thei
r knowledge of community services and frequency of discussion with car
ers. Before the trial, general practitioners had significantly higher
self-rated knowledge of community services and reportedly discussed th
ese with carers more often than did pharmacists. After the five-month
trial period, pharmacists showed a significant increase in self-rated
knowledge and frequency of discussion. General practitioners' knowledg
e and discussion showed a nonsignificant increase. After the trial, th
e two did not differ in knowledge of services; however, general practi
tioners maintained a higher reported frequency of discussion about ser
vices with carers. General practitioners and pharmacists appear to be
well placed to act as a service link for family carers. However, addit
ional high-intensity strategies are needed to assist them in this role
.