Pharmacists' perspectives on HIV testing in community pharmacies

Objective: To assess the feasibility, readiness, and acceptability of offering rapid human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing in community pharmacies. Design: Qualitative study. Setting: Community pharmacies in Indiana from May to September 2012. Participants: 17 licensed community pharmacists. Intervention: Semistructured interviews among a convenience sample of community pharmacists. Main outcome measures: Community pharmacists' self-reported attitudes toward rapid HIV testing in community pharmacies, perceptions of peer acceptability, and opinions about readiness for implementation of the practice in community pharmacies. Results: Participants accepted the idea of pharmacy-based HIV testing, describing it as accessible, convenient, and nonstigmatizing. Acceptability was closely linked to positive patient relationships and pharmacist comfort with consultation. Identified challenges to pharmacy-based HIV testing included staffing issues, uneasiness with delivering positive test results, lack of information needed to link patients to care, insufficient consulting space, and need for additional training. Participants indicated that peer beliefs about the acceptability of pharmacist-based HIV testing would vary but that more recently trained pharmacists likely would be more accepting of the practice. Conclusion: Most participants felt that offering HIV testing was a reasonable addition to the evolving role of the community pharmacist, pending resolution of personal and institutional barriers.