Pharmacists' impact on older adults' access to vaccines in the United States

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this systematic review was to explore pharmacists' impact on older adults' access to vaccines in terms of realized accessibility, financial accessibility, and vaccine availability.

Methods: Five databases were searched using a search strategy developed in PubMed and translated to other databases. Included studies were English-language, United States-based primary literature published between 1994 to present day. Studies were excluded if they were incomplete studies or did not focus on at least one of three dimensions of access to immunizations: realized accessibility, availability, and financial accessibility. The following data were gathered: title, authors, year published, sub-dimension of accessibility, health care setting, intervention or data source, pharmacist role, type of immunization, duration of study, sample size, and main outcome measures.

Results: Twenty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. Of those, the majority evaluated realized accessibility (n = 22, 88%). Eleven studies evaluated vaccine availability, and one study addressed financial accessibility. Pharmacists had a variety of roles in the immunization process, including screener, educator, immunizer, or documenter, and often played more than one role (n = 10, 40%). Pharmacists participated in the vaccination process across multiple health care settings, including in community pharmacies (n = 8, 32%) and hospitals (n = 7, 28%). In the majority (n = 21, 84%) of studies, pharmacists positively impacted older adults' access to vaccines. The most common vaccinations studied were pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations (n = 20, 80%).

Conclusion: Vaccinations are important in protecting and maintaining the health of older adults. Pharmacists improved access to vaccinations and served many roles in the vaccination process. Future research should explore how pharmacists impact access to vaccines beyond vaccination rates, especially regarding the financial impact on patients.