What are the common barriets that affects effective comminacations between pharmacists and patients and solution to reduce these

1. www.wchsolutions.com
Barriers to communication
What are barriers to communication that exist in any work
setting?
Take a few moments to write down some of…. your
thoughts…

2. Learning Objectives
• At the end of this lesson you will be able to:
– Identify barriers of communication in pharmacy practice
– Describe strategies to minimize the impact of such barriers
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3. Barriers to effective Communication
include:
 Physical (environmental),
 Psychological (personal),
 administrative
 or time conflict.
Such conflicts prevent effective
communication from being established.
• Gender differences
• Cultural diversity
• Language
Communication Barriers -
factors that block or
significantly distort successful
communication

4. 4
1. Pharmacy Environment
Lack of privacy
Physical barriers
Atmosphere conducive to
communication
Inaccessibility of the
pharmacist
Environmental Barriers

5. Environmental Barriers
• Prescription counter
– high prescription counters may:
• Intimidate pts & inhibit communication
• Give patients the impression that pharmacists don’t want to talk to
them
– Lower prescription counters facilitate pharmacist patient interaction
• Crowded and noisy prescription areas
• Little or no privacy to talk with other health care professionals
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6. Environmental Barriers cont…
STEPS IN REMOVING ENVIRONMENTAL BARRIERS
The next time you enter a community pharmacy, check for the following:
Step 1. Find out which ones exist in your practice setting:
– Is the pharmacist visible?
– Is it easy to get the pharmacist’s attention?
– Does it appear that the pharmacists want to talk to the patient?
– Is the prescription area conducive to private conversation?
– Do you have to speak to the pharmacists through a third party?
– Is there a lot of background noise or distractions?
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7. REMOVING ENVIRONMENTAL BARRIERS cont…
Step 2. create an atmosphere that causes both parties to
communicate more effectively
– Make countertops wider to accommodate computers and printers
– Place a computer terminal near the patient counseling area
– Create a pharmacist – patient interface area that allows easy eye-to-
eye contact
– Allow a nearby area to be a comfortable waiting area
– Remove glass windows
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8. Summary of points: overcoming environmental barriers
Barrier
• Distraction:
– Lack of privacy
– Ringing phones
– Clerks and other customers
– Interruptions
• Fixed objects:
– Glass partition
– Displays and
– Distance from patient area
Corrective action
– Instruct employees on when
not to interrupt
– Move to private space
– Move out from behind barrier
– Maintain eye contact
– Maintain appropriate
interpersonal space
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9. REMOVING ENVIRONMENTAL BARRIERS cont…
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10. 10
2. Pharmacist Challenges
Lack of knowledge
Lack of confidence
Lack of skills
Lack of resources
Busy-ness and poor prioritization
Time Management
Barriers to effective Communication

11. Personal Barriers
Potential Pharmacist-Related Personal Barriers
• Shyness
• Cultural differences
• Discomfort in sensitive situations
• Negative perceptions about the
value of patient interaction

12. Potential Pharmacist-Related……
• Negative experiences: what might happen
– if you get into a heated argument with a patient who appears
to be unreasonable and rude? Would you be excited to talk to
the next patient? Probably not.
– if you felt you were taken advantage of by a colleague when
you agreed to do something that you really didn’t want to
do? Would you feel like avoiding this individual in the future?
Probably, the negative experiences may influence your
• personal desire to communicate
• Self-esteem regarding interactions with others

13. PHARMACIST-RELATED PERSONAL BARRIERS-
Emotional Barrier
• Another potential personal barrier involves emotional
objectivity.
• It may be appropriate for you to assist with physical issues,
but probably not patient emotional needs.
– You should remain empathetic towards your patients, but
not get so involved that you carry their emotional
burdens with you.
– It is probably more appropriate to refer patients to
professionals who can assist them with these issues.

14. PHARMACIST-RELATED PERSONAL
BARRIERS/ Cultural barriers
For example, in some cultures it is not proper to engage in eye
contact during communication.
Other barriers related to culture include the following:
• Definitions of illness (some patients may not perceive
themselves to be ill).
• Perceptions of what to do when ill (some cultures stress self-
reliance rather than seeking help):
• Health-related habits or customs (eating habits).
• Health-seeking behavior (some cultures place more reliance on folk
medicine)
• Perceptions of health care providers (based on possible
distrust of the health care system or past negative
experiences).

15. PHARMACIST-RELATED PERSONAL BARRIERS-
other
Other personal barriers exist in:
• Situations: where you may not be completely sure how to
respond;
For example, you may not know exactly what to say when a
cancer patient expresses a fear of dying.
• The pharmacist’s personal perception of the value of
patient communication. Many pharmacists believe that
talking with patients is not a high-priority activity.

16. Summary of points: overcoming patient related barriers
Barriers
• Emotional displays (anger, fear,
hesitancy, embarrassment;
indicated by averted gaze, stooped
posture)
Corrective action
• Use empathy
• Find out what the patient wants’
• Remain non-judgmental,
• Express understanding,
• Avoid defensive postures,
• Remain open and available,
• Work with barriers until they change
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17. Summary of points: overcoming patient related barriers cont…
Barriers
• Impaired comprehension
(language, visual deficit, hearing
deficit, ignorance of medical
terminology and concepts,
retardation)
Corrective action
• Use interpreter
• Use specialized therapeutic and
educational aids,
• Use non technical terms
• Involve/educate care givers
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18. 18
3. Patient challenges
Patient’s poor perception
of the pharmacist
Lack of time
Lack of awareness of
the patient
Barriers to effective Communication

19. PATIENT-RELATED PERSONAL BARRIERS
-patient perceptions
Patient perceptions
 If patients perceive you
 as not being knowledgeable or trustworthy,
 that you do not want to talk with them,
 On the other hand, if patients perceive you
 as being knowledgeable and have had positive experiences in the
past, they will tend to seek out information.
• Impersonal: Another patient perception that hinders
communication is their belief that the health care system is
impersonal. Some patients sense that health care
providers are not concerned about them as individuals but
rather as cases or disease states.

20. PATIENT-RELATED PERSONAL BARRIERS
• Patient perceptions of their medical conditions :
– Some may believe that their condition is a relatively minor one
requiring no further discussion with you.
– In contrast, some patients may be overly anxious about their
condition and therefore will avoid talking about it because they
feel so vulnerable.
• Some patients may feel that their physicians would have already told
them all the important information about their condition and their
medication. Therefore, there is no need to talk with you.
• In addition, many patients think that all the important information is
stated on the prescription label or in the patient education leaflet.
• You may need to convince some patients that they need to learn more
about their medications and that the few moments spent with you will
be valuable to them later on.

21. Administrative Barriers
• Pharmacists are generally not paid directly for educating or
communicating with patients.
• Policies that discourage pharmacist – patient interaction
• The ‘mechanics’ of dispensing prescriptions.
– typing labels, counting the medicine, talking on the phone
• Staffing policies may also inhibit patient counseling
– Support staff needs to be aware of situations where patients need to
talk to the pharmacist
– Double checking by both pharmacists and support staff
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22. Time Barriers
Choosing an inappropriate time to initiate conversation may lead
to communication failure.
For example, a woman who just came from a physician’s office
after waiting for 3 hours with two sick children may not be
interested in talking with you or anyone else.
The most important thing on her mind is to go home, get her
kids to bed, and then relax. She is probably not in the best frame
of mind to sit down and have a meaningful conversation about
her children’s medications.

23. Time Barriers
• By the same token, you may not be in the best frame of mind to
interact with others. You may be dealing with multiple issues: a
physician is waiting on the phone, a large number of prescriptions
need to be filled in the next hour, and you have not eaten lunch so
you are starving. You may feel that this is not a convenient time to
talk to others, such as the mother in the above example.
A possible solution might be
• to give the mother basic information to get the therapy started.
• Another strategy is to have written information that can reinforce
a short message during busy situations.
• “highlighting” related information within the written information
to emphasize key points before the patient leaves the pharmacy.

24. Summary
• Messages become helpful to others only when they are accurately
received and understood.
• If messages are distorted or are incorrect, they actually may be
harmful to patient care and interpersonal relationships.
• Failure to communicate may lead to negative patient outcomes.
• Barriers, may lead to distortion of messages and misunderstandings
between you and others.
• In any situation, you should assess nonverbal messages from health
care providers or patients for assurances that communication is well
timed (Do they appear to be listening to you? Are they
comprehending what you are saying?). At the same time, you must
be aware of situations where people are trying to talk with you, but
you are not listening appropriately.

25. Quiz
• Identify barriers of communication in
pharmacy practice? At least 5
• Describe strategies to minimize the impact of
such barriers? At least 5
• Barriers, may lead to distortion of messages
and misunderstandings between you and
others. (T/F)