Indonesian Community Pharmacy Readiness for Facilitating Self-Care for Inbound International Travellers: A Needs Assessment

Abstract

Indonesia’s tourism growth has brought health to the forefront as an important yet underexplored sector. Despite tourism’s economic value, challenges in healthcare access and quality may affect international travellers, who commonly experience minor, preventable conditions suitable for self-care. Community pharmacies are highly accessible healthcare facilities and may play a key role in supporting travellers’ self-care; however, their readiness in low- and middle-income settings remains unclear. This thesis aimed to examine the self-care needs of international travellers visiting Indonesia and to identify readiness requirements for community pharmacies to respond effectively.

A qualitative needs assessment was conducted using meta-synthesis, interviews, framework analysis, Q-study, and gap analysis. Self-care needs were defined as conditions and resources enabling effective self-care, while readiness requirements were conceptualised as gaps between desired and current pharmacy performance.

Social engagement emerged as a critical element of self-care, as travellers often experience reduced social capital, extending self-care theory. Travellers relied on multiple information sources when deciding between self-care and professional care and experienced disconfirmation of expectations regarding local services and products. Three traveller archetypes were identified based on self-care facilitation: Unfacilitated Self-Care, Point-of-Origin Facilitated Self-Care, and Destination-Facilitated Self-Care, expanding the self-care continuum. Twelve readiness requirement themes for Indonesian community pharmacies were identified, primarily at the system level and largely relevant to the Destination-Facilitated Self-Care archetype.

International travellers display diverse self-care needs shaped by facilitation context. Strengthening practice-level policy support is essential to enhance the capacity of Indonesian community pharmacies to meet these needs across traveller archetypes.