Article Sidebar
Published:
Jun 26, 2026DOI:
10.4314/ahs.v26i2.11Keywords:
Article Details
While African Health Sciences has been freely accessible online there have been questions on whether it is Open Access or not. We wish to clearly state that indeed African Health Sciences is Open Access. There are key issues regarding Open Access needing clarification for avoidance of doubt:
- 1. Henceforth, papers in African Health Sciences will be published under the CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution License) 4.0 International. See details on https://creativecomons.org/)
- 2. The copyright owners or the authors grant the 3rd party (perpetually and in advance) the right to disseminate, reproduce, or use the research papers in part or in full, format/medium as long as:
- No substantive errors are introduced in the process
- Attribution of authorship and correct citation details are given
- The referencing details are not changed.
Should the papers be reproduced in part, this must be clearly stated.
- 3. The papers will be freely and universally accessible online in an easily readable format such as XML in at least one widely recognized open access repository such as PUBMED CENTRAL.
B. ABRIDGED LICENCE AGREEMENT BETWEEN AUTHORS AND African Health Sciences
I submitted my manuscript to African Health Sciences and would like to affirm that:
1.0 I am authorized by my co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
2.0 I guarantee, on behalf of self and co-authors:
- That the paper is original, and has not been published in any other peer-reviewed journal; nor is it under consideration by other journal (s). It does not infringe existing copyright or any other person’s rights
- That we are/I am the sole author(s) of the paper and with authority to enter into this agreement. My granting rights to African Health Sciences is not in breach of any other obligation
- That the paper contains nothing unlawful, or libelous. Nor anything that would constitute a breach of contract, confidence or commitment given to secrecy, if published
- That I/we have taken care to ensure the integrity of the article.
3.0 I and all co-authors, agree that the paper, if accepted for publication, shall be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0. (see https://creativecommons.org/)
Main Article Content
Patients’ perceptions of the role of community pharmacists in the prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases: a qualitative investigation
Abstract
Background: Cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of mortality globally. Community pharmacists can improve the impact of cardiovascular diseases by early identification of risk factors and provision of health promotion. However, patients' perceptions of community pharmacists are not well understood.
Objective: To understand how patients perceive the involvement of community pharmacists in preventing and controlling cardiovascular diseases.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 (n = 10) cardiovascular disease patients who utilise community pharmacy services in Maseru and Berea districts. Convenience sampling method was used to select participants. The questionnaire comprised questions to uncover patients’ experiences, utilisation, and expectations of community pharmacists’ services. Thematic analysis was employed.
Results: Four themes were identified, namely 1) perceived role of a community pharmacist, 2) patient healthcare-seeking behaviour, 3) perceived community pharmacist care outcomes, and 4) future expectations. Generally, cardiovascular disease patients visited community pharmacists every month for medication refills and were less aware of other services. Overall, patients were appreciative of and were willing to support future community pharmacists’ services. The patients expect community pharmacists to lead initiatives that educate people about cardiovascular diseases and standardise services across all pharmacy outlets.
Conclusions: Patients had limited awareness of other services provided by community pharmacists beyond dispensing medication, such as disease detection and health promotion. However, they valued the services provided by community pharmacists and were willing to utilise expanded services. This presents an opportunity for community pharmacists to raise awareness of their current scope of work and expansion of care.
Keywords: Cardiovascular diseases; role; community pharmacist; patients’ perceptions; prevention and control; qualitative methods.
