Pharmacists' perceptions and delivery of health behaviour change recommendations: Mapping the COM-B model

Chloe Maxwell-Smith; Hayley Breare; Alejandro Dominguez Garcia; Tin Fei Sim; Krysten Blackford; Hui Jun Chih; Jonine Jancey; Barbara A Mullan

doi:10.1016/j.sapharm.2023.10.008

Pharmacists' perceptions and delivery of health behaviour change recommendations: Mapping the COM-B model

Res Social Adm Pharm. 2024 Feb;20(2):115-123. doi: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2023.10.008. Epub 2023 Oct 31.

Authors

Chloe Maxwell-Smith¹, Hayley Breare², Alejandro Dominguez Garcia², Tin Fei Sim³, Krysten Blackford⁴, Hui Jun Chih⁵, Jonine Jancey⁵, Barbara A Mullan⁶

Affiliations

¹ Behavioural Science and Health Research Group, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia; School of Population Health, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia; EnAble Institute, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia. Electronic address: chloe.maxwell-smith@curtin.edu.au.
² Behavioural Science and Health Research Group, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia; School of Population Health, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia.
³ Curtin Medical School, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia; Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, Australia.
⁴ School of Population Health, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia; Collaboration for Evidence, Research and Impact in Public Health, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia.
⁵ School of Population Health, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia.
⁶ Behavioural Science and Health Research Group, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia; School of Population Health, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia; EnAble Institute, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia.

PMID: 37926620
DOI: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2023.10.008

Abstract

Background: Pharmacists are trusted and accessible healthcare professionals who are well-positioned to deliver brief health behaviour change technique-based interventions for chronic health conditions. However, little is known about the factors influencing pharmacists' use of behaviour change techniques and their capacity to deliver these interventions within community pharmacy.

Objectives: This study employed the COM-B model to explore the factors that explain pharmacists' delivery of behaviour change techniques in practice. A secondary objective was to ascertain whether capability, opportunity, and motivation are associated with and explain significant variance in the use of behaviour change techniques during patient interactions.

Methods: Two-hundred and eleven Australian pharmacists (mean age = 36.1, SD = 10.7) completed a survey on their capability, opportunity, and motivation to deliver behaviour change techniques, and their delivery and frequency of use in practice.

Results: Most pharmacists (91.3%) use behaviour change techniques during patient interactions. Results from a simple linear regression showed that a composite COM score was associated with pharmacists' behaviour change technique use F(1,195) = 47.12, β = 0.44, 95 % CI [0.09, 0.16], p < .001, and their frequency of use (F(1,198) = 44.19, β = 0.43, 95 % CI [0.02, 0.06], p < .001). While capability, opportunity, and motivation were individually associated with the range and frequency of behaviour change technique used, motivation was the only significant variable in the composite model for range (β = 0.35, 95 % CI [0.11, 0.41], p < .001) and frequency of behaviour change technique use (β = 0.22, 95 % CI [0.01, 0.09], p < .05).

Conclusions: Pharmacist motivation was the most important construct explaining behaviour change technique use. Interventions should seek to foster pharmacist motivation and may benefit from adopting COM-B as a behaviour change framework, to understand the factors influencing the delivery of behaviour change interventions.

Keywords: Behavior change techniques; Behavioral intervention; Behavioral medicine; Health behaviors; Health professionals; Pharmacy practice.

MeSH terms

Adult
Attitude of Health Personnel
Australia
Community Pharmacy Services*
Health Behavior
Humans
Motivation
Pharmacists*
Professional Role