Expanding the Pharmacist’s Role in Public Health

Lai, Elizabeth; Trac, Le; Lovett, Annesha

doi:10.13189/ujph.2013.010306

Cited by 19 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Due to insu cient involvement and opportunities for clinical pharmacists, the councillors said that the burden of provision of optimum patient services falls on other healthcare professionals such as nurses and paramedics burdening overall health care systems. Interdisciplinary team based care has the potential to improve medication use and reduce adverse drug events and cost [42]. However, our interviewees identi ed a lack of interdisciplinary collaborations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

National Pharmacy Associations in the Commonwealth -current scenario and future needs to maximise effective contributions of the pharmacy profession towards Universal health coverage

Iqbal

Rutter²,

Gülpınar

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: The Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA) is a charity representing pharmacists across the Commonwealth, with the vision of empowering and collaboratively develop the profession and fully utilise the potential of pharmacists to strengthen health systems through supporting better access to, quality and use of medicines and related services. Commonwealth comprises predominantly of low and middle-income countries where limited data often exists in pharmacy practice. There is a recognised need across the Commonwealth to focus on developing, implementing and fully utilising pharmacy professional services to progress universal health coverage and achieve the sustainable development goals, particularly in low and middle-income countries; however, currently a knowledge gap exists in understanding the national priorities in Commonwealth nations. CPA is ideally positioned to access to these nations. The aim of this study was thus to explore the priorities and focus areas of NPAs across the Commonwealth and create evidence for a needs-based approach to inform the support that the Commonwealth pharmacists association can collaboratively and strategically provide to its members to progress towards shared goals.Methods: Data was collected virtually on Zoom by conducting interviews using a semi-structured interview guide developed for this study with CPA councillors representing NPAs or their equivalents if no official body existed. An inductive, reflexive, thematic analysis was performed for data analysis. Results: In total, 30 councillors were interviewed from 30 low- and medium-income countries. The three main overarching priority areas identified across respective Commonwealth nations developing extended pharmacy services, improving pharmacy education, and developing and redefining the role of NPAs.Conclusions: This novel study highlights the collective priorities for the pharmacy profession across the low and middle-income countries of the Commonwealth and the urgent need for supporting NPAs around the three identified overarching priority areas. The mapped-out priorities will inform an evidence-based approach for the CPA to better support NPAs in their mission through advocacy and practitioner development, to fully harness pharmacists’ unique skill set and maximise their contribution to progressing universal health coverage.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

National Pharmacy Associations in the Commonwealth -current scenario and future needs to maximise effective contributions of the pharmacy profession towards Universal health coverage

Iqbal

Rutter²,

Gülpınar

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Due to insufficient involvement and opportunities for clinical pharmacists, the councillors said that the burden of provision of optimum patient services falls on other healthcare professionals such as nurses and paramedics burdening overall health care systems. Interdisciplinary team based care has the potential to improve medication use and reduce adverse drug events and cost [ 40 ]. However, our interviewees identified a lack of interdisciplinary collaborations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

National pharmacy associations in the commonwealth: current scenario and future needs to maximise effective contributions of the pharmacy profession towards universal health coverage

Iqbal

Rutter²,

Gülpınar

et al. 2021

J of Pharm Policy and Pract

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA) is a charity representing pharmacists across the Commonwealth, with the vision of empowering and collaboratively develop the profession and fully utilise the potential of pharmacists to strengthen health systems through supporting better access to, quality and use of medicines and related services. Commonwealth comprises predominantly of low- and middle-income countries, where limited data often exists in pharmacy practice. There is a recognised need across the Commonwealth to focus on developing, implementing and fully utilising pharmacy professional services to progress universal health coverage and achieve the sustainable development goals, particularly in low and middle-income countries; however, currently a knowledge gap exists in understanding the national priorities in Commonwealth nations. CPA is ideally positioned to access to these nations. The aim of this study was thus to explore the priorities and focus areas of NPAs across the Commonwealth and create evidence for a needs-based approach to inform the support that the Commonwealth pharmacists association can collaboratively and strategically provide to its members to progress towards shared goals. Methods Data were collected virtually on Zoom by conducting interviews using a semi-structured interview guide developed for this study with CPA councillors representing NPAs or their equivalents if no official body existed. An inductive, reflexive, thematic analysis was performed for data analysis. Results In total, 30 councillors were interviewed from 30 low- and medium-income countries. The three main overarching priority areas identified across respective Commonwealth nations developing extended pharmacy services, improving pharmacy education, and developing and redefining the role of NPAs. Conclusions This novel study highlights the collective priorities for the pharmacy profession across the low and middle-income countries of the Commonwealth and the urgent need for supporting NPAs around the three identified overarching priority areas. The mapped-out priorities will inform an evidence-based approach for the CPA to better support NPAs in their mission through advocacy and practitioner development, to fully harness pharmacists’ unique skill set and maximise their contribution to progressing universal health coverage.

show abstract

“…One area identified for increased pharmacist involvement was public health preparedness. Pharmacists responded to 5 previous anthrax events in the United States, currently assist with management of the Strategic National Stockpile, and respond to public health emergencies to ensure safe and efficient distribution of medications 9–12. The National Association of County and City Health Officials recommends state and local health departments engage with pharmacy partners for emergency preparedness work 13.…”

Section: Pharmacist Involvement In Emergency Response Planning For An...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pharmacists responded to 5 previous anthrax events in the United States, currently assist with management of the Strategic National Stockpile, and respond to public health emergencies to ensure safe and efficient distribution of medications. [9][10][11][12] The National Association of County and City Health Officials recommends state and local health departments engage with pharmacy partners for emergency preparedness work. 13 Given the previous issues with medication nonadherence during the national 2001 anthrax response, pharmacists can help local health officials plan for future health emergencies.…”

Section: Planning For Anthraxmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a Pharmacy Point-of-Dispensing Toolkit for Anthrax Post-Exposure Prophylaxis for Allegheny County Postal Workers

Schneider,

Nguyen,

Hake

et al. 2024

Journal of Public Health Management and Practice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Context: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Postal Service (USPS) consider anthrax to be a potential threat to USPS workers. A county health department–owned pharmacy supports local USPS response in the event of an exposure. The pharmacy team identified the need to review and update the local anthrax response plan. Program/Policy: A Pharmacy Point-of-Dispensing Toolkit and response plan for initial 10-day post-exposure antibiotic prophylaxis was developed for use by a local health department in the event of a mass anthrax exposure at a US Post Office sorting facility. The pharmacist's role in medical countermeasures planning for anthrax exposure is also discussed to illustrate how pharmacists' medication expertise can be utilized. Evaluation: The CDC's Public Health Preparedness Capabilities: National Standards for State and Local Planning framework and inputs from an interprofessional stakeholder team were used to develop a Medical Countermeasures Response Plan and Implementation Toolkit for mass point-of-dispensing (POD) in the event of an anthrax exposure. Implementation and Dissemination: Stakeholders attended a USPS Community Partner Training event where additional revisions to the toolkit were made. The toolkit and standing order are now implemented at the local health department to be reviewed and updated on a yearly basis by health department leadership. Discussion: Pharmacists can use their medication expertise and experience with patient education to design emergency response plans focused on increasing patient safety and medication adherence. Pharmacists should be involved in emergency response and medical countermeasures planning that involve medications.

show abstract

Expanding the Pharmacist’s Role in Public Health

Cited by 19 publications

References 13 publications

National Pharmacy Associations in the Commonwealth -current scenario and future needs to maximise effective contributions of the pharmacy profession towards Universal health coverage

National Pharmacy Associations in the Commonwealth -current scenario and future needs to maximise effective contributions of the pharmacy profession towards Universal health coverage

National pharmacy associations in the commonwealth: current scenario and future needs to maximise effective contributions of the pharmacy profession towards universal health coverage

Development of a Pharmacy Point-of-Dispensing Toolkit for Anthrax Post-Exposure Prophylaxis for Allegheny County Postal Workers

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About