Building Bridges between Pharmacy and Psychosocial Care: Supporting and Referring Patients with Psychosocial Needs in a Pilot Study with Community Pharmacists

Abstract

Introduction: Community pharmacists are accessible primary care providers and therefore in a good position to detect unmet psychosocial needs of their patients and pharmacy visitors. Description: A collaboration between pharmacists and psychosocial work was set up in Flanders, Belgium. Community pharmacists were trained to discuss psychosocial needs, to inform patients about possible help and refer them to a Center for General Wellbeing if needed. During the pilot of the project between October 2021 and January 2022, the feasibility and potential of this collaboration were examined. Discussion: A total of 79 patient contacts about psychosocial wellbeing were reported using an online registration form, the majority of which concerned women. Family problems and mental health problems were most often reported. Focus group discussions with 28 participating pharmacists showed that they experience their role in psychosocial care as fulfilling and of valuable. Patient satisfaction was mentioned to be a major motivating factor, while time and privacy are barriers. Adequate training in psychosocial wellbeing and care was considered crucial. Conclusion: Pharmacists can be valuable partners in the recognition and referral of patients with unmet psychosocial needs. Structural collaborations between community pharmacy and psychosocial care should be further supported.

Redesigning Pharmacy to Improve Public Health Outcomes: Expanding Retail Spaces for Digital Therapeutics to Replace Consumer Products That Increase Mortality and Morbidity Risks

“…Pharmacy practice has expanded from counting and dispensing in retail settings to working in diverse clinical and healthcare settings, including chronic disease management [ 15 ], psychosocial support [ 16 ], point-of-care testing [ 17 ], clinical diagnostics [ 18 ], awareness campaigns [ 19 ], and public health interventions [ 20 , 21 ]. Pharmacists have a special relationship with their patients, allowing them to better counsel and educate them not only on medicines, but also on disease prevention [ 20 , 22 , 23 ].…”