Trust-building in the Pharmacist-patient Relationship: A Qualitative Study

A key element in therapeutic communication is trust and it needs to be created and maintained between health care providers and recipients reciprocally. This study aimed to identify the factors that can enhance and improve trust between pharmacists and patients. This study was a qualitative study consisting of an in-depth semi-structured interview followed by a focus group discussion. In the first phase of the study, a semi-structured open-ended interview was conducted with patients, pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians. The interview phase was followed by transcribing verbatim and content analysis and a focus group discussion. Finally, 49 items of trust-building factors between the patient and the pharmacists were obtained. A questionnaire was designed and distributed among 80 people for transparency and relevance, similar to the participants. The necessary corrections and changes were made in the items after collecting the answers. The study achieved two main themes; external and internal trust-building factors. Internal factors include the category of the factors related to human resources and managerial factors. Finally, 49 trust-building factors were developed. Internal factors are those factors in which the pharmacist, the pharmacy technician, and the pharmacy’s management system play a key role in building trust between pharmacists and patients.