Pharmaceutical Public Health Roles of a Pharmacist

Learning Outcomes

Be able to:

  • Illustrate areas where pharmacists can have a significant impact on public health

Introduction

This unit examines some of the discussion surrounding the role of pharmacy within the specialty area of public health and the various priority areas that have been highlighted for pharmaceutical public health.
📚Activity 1
Read Chapter 3: ‘Pharmacy within public health: a UK perspective’ and Chapter 5: ‘An international perspective’ in Pharmacy in Public Health Edited by Krska.

What can Pharmacists do to improve the health of the community or population?

As already discussed, Pharmaceutical public health has now been defined as “the application of pharmaceutical knowledge, skills and resources to the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, promoting, protecting and improving health for all through the organised efforts of society” (Walker R. Pharmaceutical public health: the end of pharmaceutical care? PharmJ 2000:264(7085):340‐1).
However, it has also been recognised in many countries at both professional and governmental levels that pharmacists in all practice environments are currently underutilised in the area of public health:
“To date pharmacists have been a major untapped resource for health improvement. The record of accomplishment of community pharmacists in areas such as stopping smoking, sexual health advice and substance misuse is evidence of how integral they are to tackling public health issues. But we would like pharmacists to do even more.”
(UK Health Minister Rosie Winterton MP, June 2004 – taken from Choosing Health through Pharmacy, UK Dept of Health – see readings).

🎥 Watch this video

Here are the notes for the presentation:

Self Reflection Exercise

From your current knowledge and understanding of Pharmaceutical Public Health and pharmacy practice services in your own country and local area within that country. Consider the following:

  1. What do you understand by the term pharmaceutical public health?
  2. What local and national initiatives or services contribute towards pharmaceutical public health in your country?
  3. What roles do pharmacists currently have or, in the future, could have in improving the health of communities or populations?
  4. What medicines usage data and information is available at a national, local or individual pharmacy level in your country that may be utilised to inform the public health agenda?
  5. Are there any key players, stakeholders or champions leading the development of pharmaceutical public health in your country or locality?
  6. Do you agree or disagree that pharmacists are underutilised in the area of public health?

Pharmacists, especially community pharmacists, have always been recognised as suppliers of medicines, but also as providers of health education, medicines‐related information and a variety of other services that come under the public health umbrella. Historically, in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the UK, these additional education or information services have often provided free of charge. However, as we have said before, increasingly the governments of many developed countries are realising that pharmacists offer a highly accessible, well‐trained, skilled and motivated workforce that would allow them to better meet the public health goals and priorities for their populations. Likewise, international public health organisations such as the WHO have also recognised that pharmacists may also provide a useful additional public health workforce in many developing countries where there are currently shortages of other health professionals. In some countries, such as the UK, pharmacy professional bodies are now working closely with government bodies and public health professional bodies to develop public health services and pharmacies are
contracted and paid to provide these services from community pharmacies.

Using the UK as the exemplar country, we will now examine the potential skills that pharmacists can offer in the area of public health, the development of pharmaceutical public health services and the priorities that both government and the professional bodies have determined for pharmaceutical public health.

Learning Activity

Access via the JCU Library:   Krška, Janet. (2010). Pharmacy in public health. Pharmaceutical Press.
Read Chapter 3: ‘Pharmacy within public health: a UK perspective’ in Pharmacy in Public Health Edited by Krska. Consider the following:
  1. What public health activities are UK pharmacists involved in as part of their roles in primary and secondary care?
  2. What are the roles of academia and the pharmaceutical industry in the development of pharmaceutical public health?
  3. Is there a need for the development of pharmacist public health specialists?
  4. What are the suggested training needs for pharmacists working in the area of pharmaceutical public health?

🎥 Watch this video

Here are the notes for the presentation:

 

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PC2100 - Applied Therapeutics and Pharmacy Practice 1 Copyright © by James Cook University. All Rights Reserved.