Oral health promotion in the community pharmacy: an evaluation of a pilot oral health promotion intervention

Abstract

Introduction Poor oral health is a significant public health concern, costing the NHS in England £3.4 billion annually. Community pharmacies are easily accessible, frequently visited by patients and the community pharmacy contractual framework requires pharmacies to provide healthy living advice to patients - therefore offering a little explored avenue for the delivery of oral health interventions.Methodology A pilot oral health promotion intervention was introduced in five pharmacies in deprived areas of County Durham between September and December 2016. A mixed methods approach to the evaluation was performed, utilising a patient evaluation questionnaire and semi-structured qualitative interviews with pharmacy staff.Results One thousand and eighty-nine participants received the intervention. Following the intervention 72% of participants perceived their knowledge of oral health as much better, 66% definitely intended to change their oral health habits and 64% definitely thought a pharmacy was the right place to receive advice about oral health. Three themes emerged from the qualitative data: (1) intervention feedback, (2) knowledge gap and (3) service development.Discussion The data demonstrated the acceptability of patients to a community pharmacy based oral health intervention, with most patients reporting intentions to change their oral healthcare habits after receiving the intervention. Previous literature has identified a willingness of pharmacy staff to become involved with oral health; this study provides evidence that patients are also receptive to such services being delivered in the community pharmacy setting. Further work is required to assess the benefits of a community pharmacy based oral health intervention and the potential for further growth of this role.Conclusion A community pharmacy is perceived by patients as an acceptable provider of oral health interventions and has the potential to provide positive changes to the oral health of the population.

‘We do not seem to engage with dentists’: a qualitative study of primary healthcare staff and patients in the North East of England on the role of pharmacists in oral healthcare

“…This is the first study that has explored the role of the pharmacist in general practice in relation to the provision of oral health advice, but these findings are consistent with those in the literature in relation to community pharmacists and other healthcare professionals 8 20. There is also a need for further interprofessional education between the professional groups, as identified our previous qualitative studies and in research outside of the UK 35.…”

“…Previous studies have identified a role for pharmacists working in a community pharmacy setting to provide oral health advice to patients 20 28–31. Our study has explored the expanding role of the pharmacist in the general practice setting; this has received significant funding from the NHS and forms a key component of NHS England’s General Practice Forward View (2016) 21.…”

“…Evidence suggests that pharmacists working in a community pharmacy setting see the provision of oral health promotion to be part of their professional role. An oral health promotion intervention in the North East of England demonstrated patient’s acceptance to the pharmacist’s intervention and a positive intention to change oral health habits 20. To the authors’ knowledge, no studies have explored the utilisation of pharmacists working in general practice to provide patients with oral health advice; however, a systematic review of pharmacists working in general practice found favourable results in various areas of chronic disease management and the optimal use of medicines 21…”

Consumer perspectives on pharmacy staff roles in providing oral health services in Australia

“…Pharmacy staff can play an important role in oral health promotion, and this is recognised by Australian dental and pharmacy organisations leading to the co‐development and release of a joint position statement on oral health and pharmacy in 2015 (PSA, ). Australian and international findings report pharmacy staff (pharmacists and pharmacy assistants) are motivated to expand and undertake new roles in public health, and expressed a strong interest in providing oral healthcare services to the community (Jorgenson, Lamb, & MacKinnon, ; Mann, Marcenes, & Gillam, ; Priya, Madan Kumar, & Ramachandran, ; Steel & Wharton, ; Sturrock, Cussons, Jones, Woodcock, & Bird, ; Taing, Ford, Gartner, & Freeman, ). To date, no Australian studies have explored health consumer opinions and attitudes regarding the role of pharmacy staff in providing oral healthcare and the potential to expand this role in the community.…”

A critical synthesis of the role of the pharmacist in oral healthcare and management of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw

“…A series of five independent studies were undertaken by the authors of this paper. [13][14][15][16][17] This body of published work contributes to the investigation of MRONJ, and the role of pharmacists in both MRONJ prevention and oral health promotion; which are fields that remain largely underreported in the extant literature. In this paper we present a critical synthesis of these five previously published papers, which substantively integrates the findings of the published work.…”