In recent years, pharmacies have been emphasizing the patient-oriented separation of prescribing and dispensing in the community and shifting from product-centered to patient-centered care. To ensure stable pharmacy operations, it is necessary to take measures to reduce turnover intention among pharmacists and to improve their motivation due to changes in work content. Therefore, we also examined how experiences that made pharmacists feel rewarded and stressed are related to their motivation and turnover intention using a survey in 2021. The results showed that motivation was higher for women than for men, and for male managers than general employees, but the results for full-time female general employees were at the level of almost the same as for female managers. Moreover, the experience of self-fulfillment increased motivation regardless of gender and responsibility, while the psychological state of not feeling meaningfulness in work (psychological distance from work) was associated with a decrease in motivation, except among full-time female workers. In addition, fatigue was related to turnover intention, except among full-time female workers.

The pharmacy pharmacist's performance of the family pharmacist function is expected to improve medication adherence in patients suffering from chronic diseases, including hypertension, and the same is true in infectious disease epidemics. In this study, using anonymously processed receipt data from 636 of our group's insurance pharmacies, we evaluated medication adherence of patients taking angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) before the COVID-19 epidemic, in the first and second years of the epidemic, in terms of medication persistence and possession, and compared them between the family pharmacist group (FP group) and non-family pharmacist group (NoFP group). The odds ratios of good medication adherence (medication persistence and possession) in the FP group to the NoFP group were 1.303 (95%CI: 1.071–1.584) before the epidemic, 1.400 (1.146–1.711) in the first year of the epidemic, and 1.264 (1.078–1.482) in the second year of the epidemic, and the FP group was significantly higher during the entire period. The results suggest that the family pharmacist function improves ARB adherence not only before the COVID-19 epidemic, but also during the epidemic.

In Japan, the “family pharmacist” system was established as a policy measure for the rapid aging of society. However, pharmacists have not always been positive about utilizing the system, partly owing to the problem of patient co-payments. We developed an educational program for young pharmacists to deepen their understanding of the care they can provide as a “family pharmacist” and the patients who need such care and verified its effectiveness. In response to the spread of COVID-19, the educational program was fully web-based, and the assignment was repeated three times after viewing the video. Educational effectiveness was verified by measuring changes in pharmacists’ awareness of the program. After attending the program, scores on psychological barriers that exist before providing care, such as “I don’t know how to ask for consent” and “I don’t know how to explain the cost of care,” were reduced. The results suggest that the program is effective in educating pharmacists to be able to provide care as a family pharmacist.

After the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the rapid Israeli vaccination situation was widely reported in the media. In particular, it is no exaggeration to say that the vaccine was inoculated into the general population ahead of other countries, and countries proceeded to vaccinate their citizens based on these data. In Japan, where the fifth round of vaccinations is currently being administered. it is difficult to say that vaccination progressed rapidly at the beginning. It is natural that healthcare systems or emerging infectious disease control measures differ greatly between countries, but it would be beneficial for Japan in the future to know the reasons for the occurrence of the above differences in order to be able to respond to outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases in the future. The aim of this study was to investigate the Israeli and Japanese healthcare systems related to SARS-COV-2 and to examine whether there are elements of the Japanese healthcare system that could be improved from the current situation by learning about the Israeli case. The research was conducted via an internet search using reliable official websites such as the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). It was suggested that a simplified Israeli government medical supervision system and advanced medical DX are related to the development of a rapid SARS-CoV-2 countermeasure system. It was suggested that in the future, Japan may be able to provide the necessary medical care to its citizens more quickly based on their needs.