Pharmacist Involvement in Addressing Public Health Priorities and Community Needs: The Allegheny County Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Project

Abstract

Community–clinical linkages are connections between community and clinical sectors to improve population health, and community-based pharmacists are well positioned to implement this strategy. We implemented a novel approach to community–clinical linkages in African American communities in which community-based pharmacists implement screenings for chronic disease and social determinants of health, make referrals to clinical and social services, and follow up with patients to support linkage to care in nontraditional health care settings. The community-based pharmacist navigation program works with multisector partners to increase referrals and access to existing health and social service programs. We used a mixed-methods evaluation approach to collect and analyze data on program characteristics and the linkage intervention. From February 2019 to March 2020, 702 African American community members received preventive health screenings, and 508 (72%) were referred to clinical and social services. Pharmacists demonstrated the ability to implement clinical preventive services in nontraditional health care settings and improve access to care through the provision of community–clinical linkages.

Strategies and indicators to integrate health equity in health service and delivery systems in high-income countries: a scoping review

“…Figure 2 includes the context or setting for the included sources. Primary health care (n=58) was the setting for almost half of the included sources, 21 , 37 , 39 – 42 , 44 , 45 , 47 – 51 , 54 , 56 , 57 , 62 , 63 , 65 , 67 , 72 , 73 , 75 , 77 , 79 , 81 – 84 , 87 , 88 , 91 , 94 – 96 , 98 – 100 , 104 , 106 , 108 – 110 , 112 , 114 – 116 , 122 , 123 , 125 , 128 , 129 , 140 , 142 , 143 , 146 , 152 , 153 followed by health service/delivery system (n=31), 35 , 36 , 38 , 43 , 71 , 92 , 93 , 97 , 102 , 103 , 105 , 107 , 111 , 117 – 121 , 124 , 126 , 130 , 132 ,…”

“…Overall, we found that indicators for measuring health equity in our included sources were not well described or, in some cases, not reported (n=68). 21 , 36 , 37 , 40 , 47 , 50 , 51 , 53 – 55 , 57 , 59 , 60 , 66 , 68 , 69 , 71 , 74 , 76 , 78 , 79 , 81 , 82 , 88 , 90 – 92 , 94 , 95 , 98 , 100 , 102 , 103 , 106 – 108 , 110 , 111 , 113 – 116 , 118 – 121 , 123 – 126 , 129 – 135 , 139 , 143 – 146 , 148 , 149 , 151 , 153 , 154 When indicators were included (n=54), sources revealed a considerable array of indicators that were employed to measure health equity integration. 35 , 38 , 39 , 41 – 46 , 48 , 49 , 52 , 56 , 58 , 61 – ...…”

“…35 , 36 , 42 , 51 , 58 , 61 , 73 , 80 , 81 , 88 , 91 , 100 , 104 , 133 , 136 , 137 , 139 , 141 , 144 Community/organizational partners (n=13) represented standalone services or sectors and were also a common target of the sources that sought to address health equity. 21 , 57 , 64 , 78 , 89 , 98 , 105 , 106 , 122 , 127 , 128 , 142 , 145 One source focused on staff within a government health department. While the numbers in Figure 3 add up to 122, some sources featured more than one population while others did not provide this information.…”

Academic Center Partnership with Health Department and Church to Rapidly Deploy COVID-19 Vaccine POD Reaching Underserved Populations

“…DUCIH's Community Health Initiatives arm includes interdisciplinary school-based asthma clinics, a pharmacist-led community-clinical linkages program including chronic disease and social determinants of health screenings and care coordination, community-based chronic disease prevention programs (smoking cessation, CDC's Diabetes Prevention Program, etc. ), and community-based vaccine clinics (Elliott et al, 2021). Through these programs, strong partnerships have been built over time with the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD), school districts, churches, federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh, and community-based organizations, among others.…”

“…Before the pandemic, various schools at the university partnered with ACHD on projects related to Head Start, screening, vaccination, and health education. This includes a five-year project, The Allegheny County Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Project, to implement screenings for chronic disease and social determinants of health using communitybased pharmacists (Elliott et al, 2021).…”