A Depression Training Session With Consumer Educators to Reduce Stigmatizing Views and Improve Pharmacists’ Depression Care Attitudes and Practices

Abstract

Objective. To measure the impact of a depression training day for pharmacists that included a 75-minute session with a consumer educator. Design. The training day included interactive lectures on depression; the effects and side effects of and indications for the use of antidepressants; adherence issues; non-drug treatment options for depression; and basic skills in communication. Pharmacists also participated in a session with a consumer educator and in counseling exercises that included role playing. Assessment. The study used a randomized, clustered, comparative design to measure pharmacists' stigma, attitudes, and current practice related to the provision of pharmaceutical care to people with depression. Mean scores for depression-care practice after the training session were significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group. Analysis of the changes between baseline and postintervention measures in both the control and intervention groups confirmed a significant difference in the change in both social distance and practice but no significant difference in the change in attitude between the 2 groups of pharmacists. Conclusion. A continuing-education depression training day for pharmacists that involve consumer educators may improve the care delivered in the community pharmacy to people with depression.

Impact of a Mental Illness Stigma Awareness Intervention on Pharmacy Student Attitudes and Knowledge

“…12,17 In pharmacy, a limited body of research highlights the benefit of training programs for reducing social distance and improving attitudes about mental illness, which, in turn, increases counseling frequency and enhances the quality of care provided to patients living with mental illness. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Pharmacy students report higher levels of stigmatization than pharmacists regarding schizophrenia. 24,26,27 Because pharmacy students are the next generation of pharmacists, it is important to examine their perceptions regarding stigma towards patients with mental illness.…”

A Systematic Review of the Effects of Continuing Education Programs on Providing Clinical Community Pharmacy Services

“…Finally, full-text articles were retrieved for review, and 19 articles met the eligibility criteria and were included in this systematic review (Figure 1). [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] Most the articles were published from 2000 to 2013 (n518). One study was published in 1997.…”

“…21 With regard to study design, 12 studies were before-and-after studies, 21,[24][25][26][27][31][32][33][34][35][36][37] and seven studies were controlled trials. 22,23,[28][29][30]38,39 The features of these studies are summarized in Tables 2, 3, and 4.…”

“…39 The studies were performed in countries on the following continents: four in North America, 27 The sample sizes of these studies were generally small. Nine studies had a community pharmacists sample size of less than 50, 23,27,31,33,34,[36][37][38][39] seven studies had a community pharmacists sample size of 50 to 100, 22,24,25,[28][29][30]35 two studies had a community pharmacists sample size of 101 to 200, 26,32 one study had a community pharmacists sample size of more than 200. 21 With regard to study design, 12 studies were before-and-after studies, 21,[24][25][26][27][31][32][33][34][35][36][37] and seven studies were controlled trials.…”

“…Most of the CE programs (n513) had their content areas chosen by the researchers who conducted the studies without assessing gaps in knowledge or the self-reported educational needs of the community pharmacists. 22,23,25,26,[28][29][30][32][33][34][35][36][37] …”