Abstract:
Introduction: Health promotion enables people to gain better control and improve their health and overall well‑being. An important aspect
of health promotion is community action and participation through health education which encourages socioeconomic and cultural activities
and improves environmental determinants of health. Justifications: Sudan national guidelines for good pharmacy practice in community
pharmacy 2016 state that community pharmacists should have a role in health promotion in community, so researches must be done to assess
achievement in this issue. Objectives: The objective was to assess the extent of the pharmacists’ involvement in counseling patients about
health promotion and education topics, their preparation to counsel patients in health promotion and education topics, and their perceived
success in changing the patients’ health behavior. Materials and Methods: An observational cross‑sectional study was carried out from March
to April 2020 among community pharmacists in Khartoum locality. Results: A total of 150 community pharmacists who participated in the
study showed that the most important purpose of consumers’ visits to community pharmacy was related to seeking pharmaceutical advice
about drug dosage, indication, availability, and side effects which were ranked first, second, third, and fourth, respectively. In the area of the
pharmacists’ perceptions on their preparedness to counsel patients on health‑related behaviors, the perceived preparedness was highest for
counseling on taking drugs as prescribed/directed (mean [standard deviation (SD)]; 4.5 [0.9]) and knowledge about drug contents and side
effects (mean [SD]; 4.2 [1.1]). The community pharmacists perceived success in helping patients to change their health‑related behaviors.
Conclusion: The majority of participants have a positive attitude toward counseling the population on health behaviors and indicated their
willingness to learn more about health promotion.
