The Relationship between Customers and Community Pharmacies during the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) Pandemic: A Survey from Italy

Francesca Baratta, Michele Ciccolella and Paola Brusa
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Francesca Baratta: Department of Drug Science and Technology, University of Turin, Via Pietro Giuria 9, 10125 Turin, Italy
Michele Ciccolella: FarmaHiSkill Italia, Via Guelfa 5, 40138 Bologna, Italy
Paola Brusa: Department of Drug Science and Technology, University of Turin, Via Pietro Giuria 9, 10125 Turin, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 18, 1-13

Abstract: Community pharmacies are among the most easily accessible health services. Considering the major impact of COVID-19 in social terms, the purpose was to analyse the evolution of the relationship between community pharmacies and customers during the pandemic in 2020 and to understand which strategies should be implemented in the future. The data have been collected from May to December 2020. Pharmacists administered a questionnaire, also available online, to all customers that agreed to participate. The total number of respondents was 502. The results obtained confirm a generally high level of satisfaction with pharmacies among customers and appreciation for the role of community pharmacies. For the future, the priority is to monitor the situation to break down social inequalities. A task that can be entrusted to the branch of the healthcare service ideally suited to this end: local medicine, of which the community pharmacy is an essential element. The post-pandemic pharmacy will need to have the skills to provide accurate and reliable information on issues, including broad topics such as prevention and lifestyle to fight “syndemic” (two or more factors that work together to make a disease worse) and “infodemic” (too much information including false or misleading information during a disease outbreak).

Keywords: community pharmacies; pharmacists; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Italy; infodemic; syndemic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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