ArticleImplementation science : IS2021
Pharmacist dispensing of the abortion pill in Canada: Diffusion of Innovation meets integrated knowledge translation.
Article in Implementation science : IS, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- From legalisation to practice: implementation of newly legalised health interventions in healthcare settings - a systematic review.BMJ open · 2026Pooled it
- What motivates primary care providers to prescribe mifepristone medication abortion? Results of a qualitative investigation in Canada.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- Mifepristone Access Through Community Pharmacies When Regulated as a Routine Prescription Medication.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Diffusion of community heart failure service innovation in Northamptonshire, England: a qualitative study.Primary health care research & development · 2025Article
- What do Australian primary care clinicians need to provide long-acting reversible contraception and early medical abortion? A content analysis of a virtual community of practice.BMJ sexual & reproductive health · 2025Article
- Nurse practitioner medication abortion providers in Canada: results from a national survey.BMJ sexual & reproductive health · 2025Article
- Changes in local access to mifepristone dispensed by community pharmacies for medication abortion in Ontario: a population-based repeated cross-sectional study.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2025Article
- A Health Professional Mentorship Platform to Improve Equitable Access to Abortion: Development, Usability, and Content Evaluation.JMIR human factors · 2025Article
- How integrated knowledge translation worked to reduce federal policy barriers to the implementation of medication abortion in Canada: a realist evaluation.Implementation science communications · 2025Article
- User-Centered Development of a Patient Decision Aid for Choice of Early Abortion Method: Multi-Cycle Mixed Methods Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Willingness of Pharmacists to Prescribe Medication Abortion in California.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- A qualitative analysis of pharmacists' attitudes towards provision of medication abortion.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Article
- Pharmacist direct dispensing of mifepristone for medication abortion in Canada: a survey of community pharmacists.BMJ open · 2022Article
- A Virtual Community of Practice to Support Physician Uptake of a Novel Abortion Practice: Mixed Methods Case Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Article
- Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSince Canadian drug regulatory approval of mifepristone for medical abortion in 2015 and its market availability in January 2017, the role of pharmacists in abortion provision has changed rapidly. We sought to identify the factors that influenced the initiation and provision of medical abortion from the perspectives of Canadian pharmacists, bridging two frameworks - Diffusion of Innovation in Health Service Organizations and integrated knowledge translation.
methodsWe conducted one-on-one semi-structured interviews with pharmacists residing in Canada who intended to stock and dispense mifepristone within the first year of availability. Our data collection, analysis, and interpretation were guided by reflexive thematic analysis and supported by an integrated knowledge translation partnership with pharmacy stakeholders.
resultsWe completed interviews with 24 participants from across Canada: 33% had stocked and 21% had dispensed mifepristone. We found that pharmacists were willing and able to integrate medical abortion care into their practice and that those who had initiated practice were satisfied with their dispensing experience. Our analysis indicated that several key Diffusion of Innovation constructs impacted the uptake of mifepristone, including: innovation (relative advantage, complexity and compatibility, technical support), system readiness (innovation-system fit, dedicated time, resources), diffusion and dissemination (expert opinion, boundary spanners, champions, social networks, peer opinions), implementation (external collaboration), and linkage. Participants' experiences suggest that integrated knowledge translation facilitated evidence-based changes to mifepristone dispensing restrictions, and communication of those changes to front line pharmacists.
conclusionsWe illustrate how Diffusion of Innovation and integrated knowledge translation may work together as complimentary frameworks for implementation science research. Unlike in the USA, UK, and other highly regulated settings globally, pharmacists in Canada are permitted to dispense mifepristone for medical abortion. We contribute to literature that shows that mifepristone dispensed outside of hospitals, clinics, and medical offices is safe and acceptable to both patients and prescribers. This finding is of particular importance to the current COVID-19 pandemic response and calls for continued and equitable access to abortion care in primary practice.
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