Pharmaceutical care as a chance of improving health care in areas with an average level of urbanization

The access to medical services in less developed areas is more limited than in areas with a high level of urbanization. One of the solutions expanding the availability of medical services in less developed areas can be the inclusion of pharmacists in the healthcare team. The aim of the study was to define the expectations, describe and compare attitudes of communities living in areas with varied demographics regarding the possibility of implementing pharmaceutical care (PC) as a part of primary health care. The study comprised patients (n = 516) from 3 different sub-regions of Greater Poland (Poland): Poznan, Ostrow Wielkopolski and Chodziez. Anonymous questionnaires were used to obtain respondents’ attitudes toward the investigated matter. The majority of respondents declared that their knowledge about the medications they were taking increased after pharmaceutical consultations. Residents of Poznan (86.21%) and Chodziez (79.35%) were most interested in the implementation of PC. Residents of Poznan (41.89%) were also most willing to pay for this type of care. However, the monetary value of PC is much lower for residents of Poznan than for residents of other cities. The favourable attitude of patients from less urbanized regions towards PC is a chance for its effective implementation and for the improvement of healthcare standards in small cities, which account for 82% of the total population of Greater Poland.