Given more education and training, the majority of pharmacists want to be doing much more for their patients with mental illness, notes a research paper led by Amy Soubolsky, winner of this year’s Pharmacy Graduate Student Award for Pharmacy Practice Research from the Association of Faculties of Pharmacy of Canada and the Canadian Foundation for Pharmacy.
Soubolsky and her team at the University of Saskatchewan set out to better understand the current role of pharmacists in mental health services and their motivation to do more. Licensed pharmacists from any practice setting in the province directly involved in patient care were eligible to participate via an electronic survey conducted in late 2021.
Of those who responded, 61% said they were currently providing basic education about mental health medication to most or all patients, but less than 20% were providing any clinical services beyond that (i.e., follow-up, advanced education on mental health medications or help in navigating the health system and collaboration). Most agreed or strongly agreed that it is a pharmacist’s role to provide every clinical service on the list.
In the open-ended question asking how pharmacists could make a difference for patients with mental illness, the emerging responses focused on providing pharmaceutical care (49%), addressing barriers (37%), building relationships with patients (27%), and accessibility (24%).
The vast majority (95%) agreed that “Pharmacists should be as involved in mental health management as they are in chronic disease management for diabetes or cardiovascular conditions.” However, results showed that only 53% felt confident in providing these services and 45% felt they had adequate knowledge and training to do it.
“…there is professional willingness to change and consequently an opportunity to improve pharmacists’ involvement in mental health care,” noted the study authors, adding that the survey also identified several important barriers to expanded pharmacist involvement in mental health care, “many of them potentially modifiable.” The research article, “Between what is and what could be: a survey of pharmacists’ practices, attitudes, and beliefs in the provision of mental health care,” was published online in September 2023 in the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy.
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