Role of community pharmacists in skin cancer screening: A descriptive study of skin cancer risk factors prevalence and photoprotection habits in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Involving community pharmacists in interprofessional collaboration in primary care: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

The World Health Organization supports interprofessional collaboration in primary care. On over the past 20 years, community pharmacists had been taking a growing number of new responsibilities and they are recognized as a core member of collaborative care teams as patient-centered care providers. This systematic review aimed to describe interprofessional collaboration in primary care involving a pharmacist, and its effect on patient related outcomes.

METHODS

A systematic review of randomized controlled trials cited in the MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycInfo and CINAHL in English and French was conducted from inception to November 2022. Studies were included if they described an intervention piloted by a primary care provider and included a pharmacist and if they evaluated the effects of intervention on a disease or on patient related outcomes. The search generated 3494 articles. After duplicates were removed and titles and abstracts screened for inclusion, 344 articles remained.

RESULTS

Overall, 19 studies were included in the review and assessed for quality. We found 14 studies describing an exclusive collaboration between physician and pharmacist with for all studies a three-step model of pharmacist intervention: a medication review, an interview with the patient, and recommendations made to physician. Major topics in the articles eligible for inclusion included cardiovascular diseases with blood pressure, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and risk of cardiovascular diseases. Positive effects concerned principally blood pressure.

CONCLUSIONS

Collaboration involving pharmacists is mainly described in relation to cardiovascular diseases, for which patient-centered indicators are most often positive. It underscores the need for further controlled studies on pharmacist-involved interprofessional collaboration across various medical conditions to improve consensus on core outcomes measures.

SCAN! A pharmacy-based, sun safety feasibility study

OBJECTIVES

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer, and individuals from the medically underserved Appalachian region are at elevated risks for cancer morbidity and mortality. Skin cancer can be prevented by decreasing ultraviolet light exposure (sunscreen sun protection factor 30, shade, clothing, sunglasses, hats) and can be caught at an early treatable stage through a routine skin examination. The Skin Cancer Awareness Now! (SCAN!) pilot project promoted skin cancer prevention and screening in community pharmacies, using a dynamic communication model. The objectives of the study were to understand (1) the feasibility of the SCAN! and (2) the preliminary impact of the SCAN!

METHODS

We conducted pre- and postintervention surveys of the SCAN!, a student pharmacist-led or pharmacy resident-led intervention in community pharmacies (n = 3).

RESULTS

Participants (n = 90) had a mean age of 43.8 (SD= 18.4) years, were predominantly white (92.1%), without a college degree (65.6%), and had an average family income in the range of $25,000-$49,999, with approximately 16% falling below the poverty level. To begin, the SCAN! scored highly in attention (mean = 5.8), liking (mean = 6.1), comprehension (mean = 6.7), and intentions to be sun safe (mean = 6.0). Most improved in their knowledge of the amount of sunscreen needed per application for sun safety (66%, P < 0.01) and of melanoma features from pre- and postintervention (39%, P < 0.01). A multivariate analysis of variance indicated that knowledge and intentions improved (all P's < 0.01). Interaction effects indicated that improvements in knowledge were greater for those in the rural pharmacy (P = 0.03), and improvements in perceived importance were greater for those in urban pharmacies (P = 0.01).

CONCLUSION

The SCAN! intervention was well received by the population. Our study provides evidence that community pharmacy is a novel venue for skin cancer prevention interventions, particularly for rural, medically underserved populations.