Objectives:

The aim of the present work is to explore the practice of community pharmacy in Lagos state through the eyes of community pharmacists and their perception on the use of the novel information and communication technology ICT, and its effective implementation in the practice of community pharmacy in state and hence the Nigerian communities. Other objectives include:

• Exploration of the professionalism, work practice and ethics of community pharmacist in Lagos state, Nigeria

• Exploration of the observed non-adoption and hence ineffective usage of ICT-based techniques such as the use of computerized network in recording, storing and accessing patients’ health information; electronic prescription as well as telecare services by community pharmacists in the research study locality.

• Identify the bottlenecks and hence barriers responsible for non-employment/ineffective use of ICT in the practice of community pharmacy which overshadowed the field in Nigeria.

• Explore the importance of and how ICT-based techniques usage in the practice of community pharmacy would improve and thus benefit all stakeholders associated with the Nigerian healthcare system.

• Proffer novel and insightful ideas and solutions that can lead to the effective adoption and full implementation of ICT techniques across various community pharmacies in Lagos state and thus improving the Nigeria health care system 

Methodology:

The present work was modelled on qualitative research pedagogy and relied on the use of deductive survey questions. The research study was conducted specifically in the selected locality of Eti-Osa, EtI-Osa Local government area within the Lagos State metropolis, Nigeria. This was facilitated through a conducted semi-structured interview that led to the generation of in-depth explanatory data obtained from a small sample of licensed and practicing community pharmacists (those in stand-alone stores) using the pre-drafted qualitative survey questions as research tool
 
Findings:

Based on the research findings obtained from semi-structured interviews conducted on licensed and practicing pharmacists in Eti Osa LGA, Lagos metropolis, it is found that information and communication technology just like how it always enhances and thus redefine professional functions in every work station, can also redefine community pharmacy practice in Nigeria. In the present research study area community pharmacists, which discharge their professional duties in a standalone pharmacy were well conversant with the concept of ICT application which is somehow lacking in the practice of community pharmacy in developing countries such as Nigeria,
 
Analysis:

For the present study, the research data from the respondents were analyzed through Deductive Thematic Analysis approach. This qualitative method of data analysis follows six models which include (1) Reading through transcribed text and establishing data correspondence with the research focus; (2) “Coding” of texts to bring out the salient points and similar response pattern from respondents; (3) Using the coded texts to generate a themes; (4) Reviewing the generated themes so as to offset data anomaly and research bias; (5) Renaming the themes as the case may be; and (6) Writing up a theme to aptly capture and project a particular research observation.

Conclusions:

The findings made shows the non-existent or usage of ICT-based techniques such as Electronic Prescription in the line of duty of community pharmacists strained these health professionals who had to deal with the enormous workload that comes with manual filling of medication prescriptions, while researchers including Afolabi and Oyebisi (2007) as well Leung and colleagues (2013) opined that the professional duties of community pharmacists in Nigeria do not measure up greatly as ICT-based techniques which would help offset the never ending problems of medication error were lacking. Consequently, community pharmacists in the present studies advocated for the introduction of such ICT based techniques into their work station and laid much emphasis on the need of real technical and professional training on the use of these ICT techniques which they regard as one of the key determinants that would make them to be flexible while discharging their professional functions, saving them a sizeable time that had been chunked and helping combat problems such as medication errors.

 Objectives:

This research aims at exploring how wearables devices can be incorporated in the control of drug delivery systems. Therefore the objectives of this research are to:

1. To define the process involved in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of the wearable device-controlled drug delivery system in Ireland.

2. To identify the risks and challenges involved in the process in Ireland.

3. To examine the effectiveness of this novel technology in Ireland.

4. To define the potential market target and general view about the technology in Ireland. 


Methodology:

The Philosophy of this Research is Pragmatism as a combination of both Quantitative and Qualitative Methodology was used. The Research Approach was an Inductive one and the Research Strategy was to use two Survey methods which are:

1. Questionnaire distributed online, it contains 5 sections with 26 questions and involved 219 respondents Who are Currently Living in Ireland.

2. Interviews via Zoom of 10 – 30 minutes of conversations involving 3 Experts from the Medical Device Industry The Primary Data was analyzed by using Microsoft Excel (Chart Presentation) for the Quantitative method and Thematic Analysis for the Qualitative method
 
Findings:

The popularity of the use of wearable devices in controlling drug delivery systems was determined and only 21% of the participants were familiar with this type of technology (the commonly known one is the insulin pumps). The willingness of the participant to buy or use this technology was tested and 84% of the participants would consider using this technology. To better understand the views of Irish society, the factors influencing the choice of the device was determined. Comfort, Effectiveness and Ease of use had 73.9%, 71.6% and 65.6% of the participants votes respectively. According to the experts, the industry involved is mainly the medical device company and some of the challenges listed were: heavy regulations, market penetration and high cost involved in the Research and Development in form of the time, money, and resources
 
Analysis:

The present market for the wearable device-controlled drug delivery system is very small and the only commonly known one is the insulin pump. However, this study was able to demonstrate that many people in Ireland would like to use this new technology in Ireland. The Irish people would prefer to use these systems instead of the traditional method of using medications. But the choice of use of this type of drug delivery system in Ireland is based on the Size, Look, Comfort, Ease of use, Cost, Effectiveness, Reduced Side Effect and Safety of the devices. It was also established that the manufacture of different drug delivery systems such as insulin pumps, API infused contact lenses and drug-coated stents by different medical devices companies are common in Ireland, and some of these devices are being sold globally. The production of these wearable device-controlled drug delivery systems involves collaboration between medical device companies and pharmaceutical companies.

Conclusions:

The use of wearable device-controlled drug delivery systems in Ireland is at an early stage, but this is expected to change considering that Ireland houses many multinational companies producing these devices. The findings give hope that this will change very soon once the awareness of these products increased. The use of wearable device-controlled drug delivery systems is expected to be the next era in pharmaceuticals especially with the advancement in technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and IoT. There are different use of wearable devices and the market for wearable devices is constantly growing. Its use in vital monitoring and diagnosis is vast. Theoretically, the use and application of this type of drug delivery system is endless and has amazing benefits that will/are revolutionizing healthcare worldwide.

 Objectives:

The research objectives of this study are as follows;

To gain a deeper understanding of the some of the key issues surrounding clinical research data integrity

To evaluate the current knowledge and awareness of Blockchain within the clinical research industry

To determine the suitability of Blockchain in addressing the key issues surrounding clinical data integrity from a clinical data management perspective through quantitative and qualitative research

Methodology:

A pragmatist inductive approach was undertaken with this study of which the research purpose was considered exploratory. The research method used was a complementary quantitative and qualitative mixed methods approach. The sources of data consisted of an online survey while the sampling methods employed were non-probability and purposive homogenous sampling. A thematic analysis approach was then taken in order to analyze the data produced from the qualitative questions and the quantitative data was analyzed in conjunction with the qualitative data to support one another.
 
Findings:

Favor in support of Blockchain-enabled clinical trials was overwhelmingly positive from participants who took part in the study. Participants were chosen who best represented those who would have prior knowledge and understanding of Blockchain, however it was found that not all participants were even aware of Blockchain prior to the study. Blockchain understanding was quite mixed, however, all participants stated they would use Blockchain over legacy data management systems despite in depth knowledge of its functionalities. All participants stated they were aware of ongoing clinical data concerns concerning its integrity and that Blockchain could possess the architectural structure to alleviate those concerns that would benefit all stakeholders from the regulators to the patients.
 
Analysis:

Although Blockchain has been in existence since 2009 , it has formally been associated with cryptocurrency transactions and therefore it is still a relatively nascent technology still within its infancy of implementation within the clinical industry. While Blockchain is making strides in other industries, it is only beginning to be recognized as a potential platform to manage, store and share clinical data in a secure, transparent and immutable manner. Complexity and lack of understanding of the technology appeared multiple times throughout the study analysis and may act as a possible prohibitory factor towards its potential uses. Participants pointed out the increasing importance for clinical data integrity especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, and highlighted the potential beneficial applicatory functionalities of Blockchain within vaccine research.

Conclusions:

It was concluded that there exists extensive data-related issues within clinical research that contribute to a lacking of integrity in the data. There is still a degree of misunderstanding regarding the functionalities of Blockchain as a standalone platform dissociated from cryptocurrencies and there appears to be still a lack of basic awareness of its existence within the clinical research industry. The key conclusion derived from this study was that there are substantial obstacles that must be overcome before the technology could even be considered for implementation. Issues involving GDPR, ownership of data, data privacy, a lack of Blockchain experts and regulatory oversight concerns all must be solved. Blockchain has far reaching benefits not just for data integrity but for many other aspects of clinical research such as improving patient trust, acting as a decentralized repository for clinical data especially within vaccine research and could also be used alongside smart wearables to accurately record an auditable data trail from the point of origin that is fully immutable and tamper-proof.