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Creating development goal indicators – bridging data and outcomes (Western Pacific Region)

25 October 2022

Summary of “Creating development goal indicators – bridging data and outcomes” events

FIP member organisations of each region across the globe, selected some of the FIP Development Goals which are the priorities of their region. Western Pacific region: DG 1 (Academic capacity), DG 2 (Early career training strategy), DG 4 (Advanced and specialist development), DG 7 (Advancing integrated services), DG 12 (Pharmacy intelligence), DG 19 (Patient safety), and DG 20 (Digital health).

FIP Global Pharmaceutical Observatory (GPO) team members have designed and developed indicators to support tracking progress towards the development goals.​ This globally validated list of indicators across all DGs will monitor progress worldwide and support each country in the process of transformation of their workforce, education, practice, and pharmaceutical science. FIP is developing a framework for selecting indicators and a monitoring and evaluating DGs.  This will enable the design of global Atlas (data visualisation) dashboards that will drive and inform improvement and monitor trends over time. 

The process for tracking the development goals is first is to select priority DGs by identifying general, broad areas where there are active, ongoing national policies or projects mapped to the FIP DGs. The next step is to select the right indicators. Indicators are useful to provide measurable progress towards DGs, identify areas that need attention and support continuous improvement. After that, a monitoring and evaluation framework can be developed. Lastly, continuous development can be provided by regularly updating Atlas dashboards to present how the data changes over time. Atlas dashboards can include an actionable overview of a limited set of key indicators with novel ways of bringing attention to those areas that are advancing the profession or experiencing challenges. These have significant potential to support regular reviews of DG progress and improve the data quality.

Western Pacific Panel Discussion on DG priorities and data requirements:

  • There are 4 DGs that are the foundation of other DGs, specifically for Western Pacific but can also apply globally: 1) DG 1 (Academic capacity), 2) DG 5 (Competency development), 3) DG 9 (Continuing professional development strategies), 4) DG 6 (Leadership development).
  • DG 12 (Pharmacy intelligence) is very important because much research is being undertaken but attention is needed on how to use the collected data, how it could be applied and operationalized.
  • DG 18 (Access to medicines, devices, and services) is also a priority, because there is still a challenge to achieve equity and equality in terms of accessing their medicines devices and services.
  • In terms of DG 1 (Academic capacity), Australia has 47 accredited pharmacy programs offered by 20 providers and 125 pharmacists per 100.000 people. However, about 40% workforce are less than 35 years old and there is an increased proportion on this population who do not intend to practice beyond the next 10 years. There is a need to find out why young people are leaving the profession and whether we have been investing sufficiently to support the young graduates to advance further in their career. The government needs to work together with professional bodies and academic institution to invest more in pharmacy education and training to meet the demands of current and future health care needs.
  • The development in early career strategy such as residency training programs by Society of Hospital Pharmacy in Australia (SHPA), early career pharmacists (ECP) forum and communities of specialty interests (CSIS) are aligned with the DG 2 (Early career training strategy).
  • It is much better to have longitudinal data and track things rather than a snapshot. There are some readily available data such as the number of students coming in and go out successfully that might reflect academic capacity. There is a need for a common set of assessment that can be used across the region.
  • For DG 7 (Advancing integrated services), we need to look at what policies and strategies are needed for strengthening and transforming pharmacy workforce education and systematic training on trainers and educators.
  • There are some DGs that can be quantified numerically for the monitoring process such as in DG 9 (Continuing professional development strategies) we can count the attendance in continuing professional development events as a ratio to the total membership of the profession.