Perceptions of UK Community Pharmacists on Current Consultation Skills and Motivational Interviewing as a Consultation Approach: A Qualitative Study

The Pharmacist Prescriber: A Psychological Perspective on Complex Conversations about Medicines: Introducing Relational Prescribing and Open Dialogue in Physical Health

Pharmacists have traditionally supported the prescribing process, arguably in reactive or corrective roles. The advent of pharmacist prescribing in 2004 represented a major shift in practice, leading to greater responsibility for making clinical decisions with and for patients. Prescribing rights require pharmacists to take a more prescriptive role that will allow them to contribute to long-standing prescribing challenges such as poor medication adherence, overprescribing, and the need for shared decision-making and person-centered care. Central to these endeavors are the development and possession of effective consultation skills. University schools of pharmacists in the UK now routinely include consultation skills training, which is also provided by national education bodies. These challenges remain difficult to overcome, even though it is understood, for example, that increasing the effectiveness of adherence interventions may have a far greater impact on the health of the population than any improvement in specific medical treatments. More recently, a concerted effort has been made to tackle overprescribing and the harm that may occur through the inappropriate use of medication. In routine pharmacy work, these priorities may linger at the bottom of the list due to the busy and complex nature of the work. Solutions to these problems of adherence, optimizing benefits of medication, and overprescribing have typically been pragmatic and structured. However, an arguably reductionist approach to implementation fails to address the complex patient interactions around prescribing and taking medication, and the heterogeneity of the patient's experience, leaving the answers elusive. We suggest that it is essential to explore how person-centered care is perceived and to emphasize the relational aspects of clinical consultations. The development of routine pharmacist prescribing demands building on the core values of person-centered care and shared decision making by introducing the concepts of "relational prescribing" and "open dialogue" to cultivate an essential pharmacotherapeutic alliance to deliver concrete positive patient outcomes. We provide a vignette of how a clinical case can be approached using principles of relational prescribing and open dialogue. We believe these are solutions that are not additional tasks but must be embedded into pharmacy practice. This will improve professional satisfaction and resilience, and encourage curiosity and creativity, particularly with the advent of all pharmacists in Great Britain becoming prescribers at graduation from 2026.

Pharmacist management of atrial fibrillation in UK primary care: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects up to 2% of the UK population. AF is a potentially long-term condition that needs management, and as such primary care pharmacists may have a substantial role in supporting the management of AF.

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to explore the role of primary care pharmacists, working in community pharmacies and general practices (GPs), in supporting the management of AF. Furthermore, this study investigates pharmacists' confidence in their knowledge and their attitudes towards incorporating AF-associated mobile apps use into their current practice.

METHODS

A qualitative study was conducted, using one-to-one semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews with primary care pharmacists. The topic guide was developed based on pharmacy visits and included the most relevant constructs from the 'consolidated framework for implementation research (CFIR)'. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed until saturation was achieved, guided by Braun and Clarke's 6-step research method. This study was given a favourable opinion on 5 September 2019 by the University of Birmingham (UOB) Research Ethics Committee (Reference ERN_19-0908).

RESULTS

Thematic saturation was achieved after 11 interviews with primary care pharmacists (seven community pharmacists, and four GP pharmacists). Three main themes emerged relating to (1) the clinical role of pharmacists in the management of AF; (2) knowledge and awareness; and (3) prioritisation of resources. The first highlighted that primary care pharmacists were an underutilised resource within AF management. The second demonstrated that pharmacists, especially those based in the community, felt a lack of confidence in their knowledge of AF and its management, mainly community pharmacists due to other roles taking precedence over clinical roles. Both community and GP pharmacists expressed the need to have further training in this therapeutic area to be able to effectively support patients with AF. The third shed light on the pharmacists' views relating to the technological revolution in healthcare. Pharmacists expressed an interest in using apps to support their current practice.

CONCLUSIONS

Primary care pharmacists supported an extended care to AF management from screening to consultations, yet the provision of such services remains limited and inconsistent. Future research should focus on understanding the ways in which pharmacists' role can be adapted toward greater involvement in clinical care.

Supporting medicines management for older people at care transitions - a theory-based analysis of a systematic review of 24 interventions

BACKGROUND

Older patients are at severe risk of harm from medicines following a hospital to home transition. Interventions aiming to support successful care transitions by improving medicines management have been implemented. This study aimed to explore which behavioural constructs have previously been targeted by interventions, which individual behaviour change techniques have been included, and which are yet to be trialled.

METHOD

This study mapped the behaviour change techniques used in 24 randomised controlled trials to the Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy. Once elicited, techniques were further mapped to the Theoretical Domains Framework to explore which determinants of behaviour change had been targeted, and what gaps, if any existed.

RESULTS

Common behaviour change techniques used were: goals and planning; feedback and monitoring; social support; instruction on behaviour performance; and prompts/cues. These may be valuable when combined in a complex intervention. Interventions mostly mapped to between eight and 10 domains of the Theoretical Domains Framework. Environmental context and resources was an underrepresented domain, which should be considered within future interventions.

CONCLUSION

This study has identified behaviour change techniques that could be valuable when combined within a complex intervention aiming to support post-discharge medicines management for older people. Whilst many interventions mapped to eight or more determinants of behaviour change, as identified within the Theoretical Domains Framework, careful assessment of the barriers to behaviour change should be conducted prior to intervention design to ensure all appropriate domains are targeted.