The evolution of pharmacy practice research–Part I: Time to implement the evidence†

Increased self-reported pharmacist prescribing during the COVID-19 pandemic: Using the Theoretical Domains Framework to identify barriers and facilitators to prescribing

“… 58 Certain prescribing services, including renewals and prescribing for specific conditions (e.g., contraception management, shingles, uncomplicated cystitis) have recently been incorporated into provincial government funding coverage allowing all residents of Nova Scotia with a health card to receive those services as a publicly funded benefit. 20 , 55 , 56 However, a number of pharmacist prescribing services are not covered and are paid for by individuals through out-of-pocket payment or as part of the health spending account of their private insurance plan. An exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act was also issued by Health Canada in March 2020, authorizing pharmacists to prescribe renewals for narcotics and other controlled and targeted drugs when appropriate.…”

“… 9 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 Previous literature has also identified that the uptake of pharmacist prescribing has been lower than expected and the rate of adoption of pharmacists’ full scope of practice has been slower than anticipated. 19 , 20 …”

My crystal ball

“…We need to work harder to be more patient centred in research as well as care. We need to adopt the frameworks and approaches from implementation science, undertake appropriate pilot and feasibility work when building a meaningful programme of research and when reporting studies make better use of resources such as the portfolio of reporting checklists on the Equator network…”

The evolution of pharmacy practice research—Part II: Time to join the rest of the world

“…It also means that much of what we do has been focused on demonstrating the role of pharmacists rather than taking a theoretically based approach to understanding what is happening and using recognized state-of-the-art techniques to develop the profession in the interests of better health care for all. Hence, in a previous editorial, 3 we questioned the value of the proliferation of multiple small studies that did not generate new knowledge, often surveys justifying the role of the pharmacist. We suggested it was time to reflect on what we know already and implement the good using a theoretically informed implementation science approach or to take stock of the gap in evidence and design a research strategy to take the profession forward again.…”