Community pharmacists and chronic pain: A qualitative study of experience, perception, and challenges

Abstract

Background : Patients suffering from chronic pain frequently ask pharmacists for advice. Aims : This study was prompted by inadequacies in the available body of literature reporting on pharmacists’ experiences with providing care for patients with chronic pain in the community setting. Methods : A qualitative investigation of Ontario community pharmacists’ experiences was carried out. Participants were interviewed using a semistructured guide. Interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis, influenced by grounded theory. Results : This study revealed that pharmacists were knowledgeable and empathetic toward patient concerns. Challenges in their role included financial factors, patient access to multimodal treatment options, potential for harm associated with opioid use, inadequate monitoring, and gaps in training. Conclusions : This study reports community and Family Health Team pharmacists’ experiences caring for patients with chronic pain and perceptions of their professional role, including strengths and limitations, and identifies perceived challenges in the health care system.

Qualitative research and pain: Current controversies and future directions

“… 25 , 33 Indeed, saturation is a central component of certain qualitative approaches (e.g., grounded theory 18 ); however, it is unhelpful, unachievable, and in direct opposition to the particular epistemology associated with certain designs and methods, including phenomenology 26 and reflexive thematic analysis. 34 By example, Tabeefar et al 35 used thematic saturation as a construct to guide sampling adequacy in their study of community pharmacists’ experiences with chronic pain, which was guided by the principles of grounded theory. Conversely, and in line with phenomenological inquiry, the studies by Dagg et al, 27 Mustafa et al, 29 and Woodgate et al 16 focused on obtaining rich personal accounts and describing the similarities and differences in experiences across participants.…”

“…This carefully curated collection includes high-quality, cutting-edge empirical qualitative studies in pain that highlight theoretical and methodological advancements in the field. The studies included in this Special Issue employ a range of qualitative methodologies, including grounded theory, 35 phenomenology, 16 , 27 , 29 qualitative description, 28 and arts-based approaches. 15 , 17 The collection of studies also demonstrates the array of methods of data collection possible in qualitative research, including both traditional (e.g., one-on-one interviews 27 , 29 , 35 ) and novel (e.g., photovoice, 16 object elicitation, 28 social media posts 15 ) methods.…”

“…The studies included in this Special Issue employ a range of qualitative methodologies, including grounded theory, 35 phenomenology, 16 , 27 , 29 qualitative description, 28 and arts-based approaches. 15 , 17 The collection of studies also demonstrates the array of methods of data collection possible in qualitative research, including both traditional (e.g., one-on-one interviews 27 , 29 , 35 ) and novel (e.g., photovoice, 16 object elicitation, 28 social media posts 15 ) methods. Finally, the Special Issue articles illustrate the capacity of qualitative research to capture the meaning and experience of pain in diverse populations, including children with anxiety, 16 critically ill patients, 28 pharmacists working with individuals with chronic pain, 35 immigrant women, 29 parents of children who have undergone surgery, 27 individuals with heart disease, 17 and those with various forms of chronic pain.…”

The Role of the Pharmacist in the Care of Patients with Chronic Pain

“…Studies have highlighted that this may be due to a lack of clarity around the responsibilities of the pharmacist and their perceived scope of practice and a need for institutional support (time, staffing, training) in some practice settings. [15][16][17][18]…”

Patients’ Level of Satisfaction from Pharmaceutical Services Provided by Private Pharmacies Using the SERVQUAL Model Analysis

“…Similarly, in the pharmaceutical profession, it is one of the crucial topics. It has always been of signi icant concern in the ield (Tabeefar et al, 2020) because it affects not only the clinical outcomes, but also other aspects such as medical malpractice claims, patient retention, the timely, ef icient, and patient-centred delivery of quality health care (Khan et al, 2020;Rosland et al, 2018;Pekkaya et al, 2019).…”