Digital literacy knowledge and needs of pharmacy staff: a systematic review.

MacLure, Katie; Stewart, Derek

Abstract

Objective: To explore the digital literacy knowledge and needs of pharmacy staff including pharmacists, graduate (pre-registration) pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, dispensing assistants and medicine counter assistants. Methods: A systematic review was conducted following a pre-published protocol. Two reviewers systematically performed the reproducible search, followed by independent screening of titles/abstracts then full papers, before critical appraisal and data extraction. Full articles matching the search terms were eligible for inclusion. Exclusions were recorded with reasons. Kirkpatrick's 4 level model of training evaluation (reaction, learning, behaviour and results) was applied as an analytical framework. Results: Screening reduced the initial 86 papers to 5 for full review. Settings included hospital and community pharmacy plus education in Australia, Canada and the US. No studies of pharmacy staff other than pharmacists were identified. Main findings indicate that pharmacy staff lack digital literacy knowledge with minimal research evidenced at each level of Kirkpatrick's model. Conclusions: As a society, we acknowledge that technology is an important part of everyday life impacting on the efficiency and effectiveness of working practices but, in pharmacy, do we take cognisance, 'that technology can change the nature of work faster than people can change their skills'? It seems that pharmacy has embraced technology without recognised occupational standards, definition of baseline skills or related personal development plans. There is little evidence that digital literacy has been integrated into pharmacy staff training, which remains an under-researched area.

Citation

MACLURE, K. and STEWART, D. 2016. Digital literacy knowledge and needs of pharmacy staff: a systematic review. Journal of innovation in health informatics [online], 23(3), pages 560-571. Available from: https://doi.org/10.14236/jhi.v23i3.840

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 31, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Sep 1, 2016
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Oct 18, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 18, 2016
• Journal: Journal of innovation in health informatics
• Print ISSN: 2058-4555
• Electronic ISSN: 2058-4563
• Publisher: BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 23
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 560-571
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.14236/jhi.v23i3.840
• Keywords: Systematic review; Digital literacy; Pharmacy education; Training; Kirkpatrick's 4 level model
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/1904