The patient experience in a community pharmacy mental illness and addictions program

Abstract

Background: the bloom Program was designed to enhance pharmacists' care of people with lived experience of mental illness and addictions in Nova scotia. the Program's demonstration period was from september 2014 to December 2016 and included a qualitative evaluation of the patient experience. Methods: Patients were recruited for individual interviews through bloom Program pharmacies. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed following braun and clarke's 6-step approach for thematic analysis. Results: ten patients were interviewed between May and June 2016. ten themes were determined through data analysis and included medication management, accessing pharmacists in a new way, providing social support, bridging service gaps, providing interim care, reducing financial barriers, navigation and advocacy, holistic approaches, empowerment through knowledge and awareness and collaboration. Discussion: Pharmacists expectedly provided medication management activities to patients for both physical and mental health concerns in the bloom Program. Many activities conducted with bloom Program patients fell outside of dispensing roles and medication management. these activities, such as social support, triage, navigation and increasing access, which were highly valued by patients, are poorly measured and assessed in pharmacy practice research. Conclusion: Participants in the bloom Program reported the significant contributions of pharmacists and pharmacy teams in their overall health and wellness. Future evaluations of interventions like the bloom Program should include measurement of constructs valued by patients and also consider impacts on inequalities and inequities. Pharmacy practice researchers can benefit from other research and evaluation being conducted for primary care interventions.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on pharmaceutical systems and supply chain – a phenomenological study

“…However, in the midst of all these, a new role for pharmacists emerged, counseling of patients on issues outside their duties. This is the holistic management of patients as envisaged in Bloom Program 18 and Ming et al 19 …”

Service users’ experiences of contacting NHS patient medicines helpline services: a qualitative study

“…32 33 TA is a systematic, rigorous and transparent technique for organising, describing and interpreting data, which has been used within health research to explore patients' experiences of healthcare services. [34][35][36] Braun and Clarke's TA was chosen instead of other thematic methods, since it provides a straight-forward step-bystep process for conducting a thorough and transparent analysis.…”

Pharmacists’ roles in mental healthcare: Past, present and future

“…For example, in Nova Scotia, Canada, the Bloom Program was “designed to enhance pharmacists’ care of people with lived experience of mental illness and addictions”. 28 The Bloom Program was evaluated through a 27-month demonstration project, illustrating that pharmacists have important roles to play in medication optimization, education and supporting people to navigate the health system. 29 Specifically, the Bloom Program resulted in the resolution or improvement of 78% of medication issues, including but not limited to adverse effects, inappropriate polypharmacy and medication withdrawal.…”

“…30 The Bloom Program is now funded by the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness, Government of Nova Scotia, demonstrating that with the appropriate remuneration and training, pharmacists can provide services beyond those that are traditionally expected (i.e., medication management) and practice to their full scope to provide other services which are greatly valued by people living with mental illness, including but not limited to social support, referral and follow-up. 28 , 31…”