PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF PHARMACIST ROLES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN BANDUNG RAYA AREA

• Main Author: Suciati, Ayu
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/74211
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The Covid-19 pandemic was an unexpected crisis, manifested as a contagious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In dealing with it, cooperation and trust between the government, healthcare professionals, and the community were necessary. Strengthening and enhancing the role of healthcare professionals as frontline guardians who directly interacted with patients was also important to be carried out. Therefore, this research was conducted to identify the public's perception of the pharmacist's role in providing education, drug delivery services, prescribing, and dispensing medication during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as to evaluate the relationship between respondent determinants and these perceptions. The study was conducted observationally using a cross-sectional study design involving 331 respondents. The data source for the research was a questionnaire distributed offline and online to the community in the Bandung Raya area. The research showed positive perceptions about the pharmacist's role in providing education (n = 262; 79.2%), drug delivery services (n = 249; 75.2%), as well as prescribing and dispensing medication (n = 218; 65.9%). Based on Chi-squared statistical analysis, there was no association between perceptions and respondents' gender, age, marital status, and highest level of education (p-value > 0.05). There was also no association between perceptions of the pharmacist's role in providing education and the role of the pharmacist in prescribing and dispensing medication during the Covid-19 pandemic (p-value = 0.093). The research showed that the majority of respondents had a positive perception of the role of pharmacists, which could be used as policy decision-makers information to strengthen and expand the roles and authorities of pharmacists for future crises.