Acceptance of Pharmacist’s Extended Roles by other Healthcare Providers in the Arab Region: Review Article

Pharmacists play critical roles in the primary healthcare system with other healthcare providers (HCPs). Extended pharmacists’ roles and pharmaceutical services have been adopted in developed countries. However, the practice of the pharmacy profession in the majority of Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region still depends on conventional activities with exceptions of providing new pharmaceutical care services in some countries such as UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Healthcare professionals in the Arab region still have the old perception that pharmacists only dispense medications and may not always recognize the new emerging clinical roles of pharmacists and the various services that they can provide. The concept and practice of patient-centered pharmaceutical care are at the early stages in most Arab countries. Numerous studies have been done in the MENA region to explore the HCPs’ acceptance of extended pharmacist’s roles by investigating the perceptions, attitudes, experiences, and expectations of HCPs. Literature showed higher expectations of pharmacists in providing reliable drug information and in patient education. Arab Physicians were less comfortable with pharmacists recommending prescription use or non-prescription medicines to patients. Literature showed a communication gap and low interactions between pharmacists and physicians in the Arab region. However, studies showed highly positive attitudes toward collaborative relationships between professions and the roles of clinical pharmacists in healthcare teams in hospital settings.

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