In-house training as part of an activity campaign in finnish pharmacies

The Association of Finnish Pharmacies (AFP) has organized national activity campaigns in Finnish pharmacies for several years. Each year, a specific, timely topic from the field of self‐care has been chosen. These campaigns have served mainly as a way to boost the public image of pharmacies but also as a means to activate, motivate, and educate pharmacy personnel on a specific issue. One essential element of these campaigns has been to produce educational material both for the public and for pharmacy personnel. In 1993, the theme of the campaign was “Stomach Problems and Their Treatment.” Evaluation of the campaign included measurement of cognitive changes among pharmacists and their opinions of the campaign. Knowledge levels were measured before, immediately after the campaign, and 6 months later. Seventeen intervention pharmacies with 100 pharmacists and six reference pharmacies with 30 pharmacists from different parts of Finland participated in the study. The results showed a statistically significant increase in immediate postcampaign knowledge levels in the intervention group, but likewise a significant decrease at 6 months, although levels still remained significantly higher than before the campaign. In the reference group, no statistically significant changes occurred. Most participants found the campaign useful for keeping up their professional skills in an area regarded as both interesting and timely. In‐house training was regarded as a comfortable and important means of education. The participants who did not receive or participate in any training regarded their abilities to inform customers as significantly weaker than those who actively participated in the training. The study showed that a national activity campaign can serve as an important motivating factor both to arrange and participate in continuing education. It was also evident that knowing that they were part of an evaluation study increased the positive effects among the participants.