Recommendations to improve pharmacy practice research in the Middle Eastern Arab countries

The expansion of the pharmacist-led services has resulted in increased demand to have evidence in terms of necessity, efficacy, and cost. Evidence-based practice is crucial to provide the best patient health outcomes and pharmacy practice research can play a key role in this regard. This commentary provides a background of pharmacy practice research, and then, it highlights three key recommendations based on a systematic review of the literature. The systematic review of the literature on pharmacy practice research has been conducted in 12 Middle Eastern Arab Countries. The three key recommendations include (a) identification of research priorities by health authorities in each country; (b) pharmacy practice research culture to be nurtured and promoted with academic researchers and practitioners; and (c) shifting pharmacy practice research towards applied, interventional, and implementation studies

The Danish Network for Community Pharmacy Practice Research and Development

The community pharmacy has a number of attributes that makes it an excellent setting for research and development projects, as it is a highly accessible part of the healthcare system and is staffed by highly trained health care professionals. The big turnover in patients in the community pharmacy makes it possible to reach a great number of patients and collect a lot of data in a relatively short time. However, conducting nation-wide research and development projects can be a rather time-consuming process for the individual community pharmacy, and can thus require collaboration with other community pharmacies and researchers. This will help ensure strong results and better implementation. Thus, the Danish Network for Community Pharmacy Practice for Research and Development (NUAP) was established in Denmark by a number of highly committed community pharmacies and researchers. NUAP consists of 102 member pharmacy owners in addition to a number of researchers. The aim of the network is to strengthen pharmacy practice and pharmacy practice research in Denmark by providing a forum where community pharmacy practitioners and researchers meet and work together. The network is led by a steering committee elected by the members in the network.