Nona, Ruth, Glass, Beverley, Ray, Robin, and Taylor, Selina (2025) Emergency contraception practice guidelines: Fertilising the "kraznozem" to increase the crop yield. Pharmacy Education, 25 (7). p. 6.

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Abstract

Introduction: Failure to refer to evidence-based clinical guidelines, up to date educational resources, and maintain current knowledge potentially exposes customers seeking emergency contraceptive pills (ECP) to misinformation, (Mill et al.,2021; Garrett et al.,2018) and risking unwanted pregnancies. Pharmacists’lack of application, and poor interpretation of guidelines has reduced access to ECP. (Nona et al.,2024) Disparity exists between the information in guidelines and what occurs in practice, resulting in a failure of pharmacists to adhere or refer to these guidelines. (Nona et al.,2024). Australian pharmacists relate poor guideline utilisation to limited time, resource access and ambiguity. Focus areas of concern included age of supply, choice of ECP, consent, transgender customers, and advanced supply. Therefore, the aim of this study was to use the Delphi technique to achieve consensus about the content of a guideline, developed to enhance ECP provision in pharmacy practice. Methods: Data from preceding qualitative interviews with practicing pharmacists, alongside international guideline comparison, informed development of a draft guideline. A sequential two-stage Delphi process was conducted with a panel of experts, invited from the interviewed practicing pharmacists. Over two Delphi rounds participants were supplied with sections of the revised guidelines and asked to record their reaction using a 5-point Likert scale and justify their decisions in a free text response. Results: The Delphi process produced reflective feedback on six main elements of the guidelines including: use of unambiguous language, accuracy of content workflow, visual appeal, key components, incorporation of new evidence-based best practices and usability in current clinical practice. Conclusion: The use of the Delphi process allowed for the development of an explicit, patient centred, and easy to navigate guideline suitable for use in Australian pharmacy practice. Future research into international ECP guideline utilisation and interpretation is recommended.

Item ID:	94064
Item Type:	Article (Abstract)
ISSN:	1477-2701
Keywords:	emergency contraception, community pharmacy, pharmacist
Related URLs:	https://doi.org/10.46542/pe.2025.257.167
Copyright Information:	© 2025 FIP
Date Deposited:	28 Sep 2026 22:46
FoR Codes:	32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3214 Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences > 321403 Clinical pharmacy and pharmacy practice @ 100%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2005 Specific population health (excl. Indigenous health) > 200509 Women's and maternal health @ 100%
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