Exploring the Impact of a Vicarious Learning Approach on Student Pharmacists' Professional Identity Formation Using a Simulated Pharmacist-Patient Encounter.

Purposefully developed professional identity formation (PIF) learning activities within the didactic curriculum provide crucial groundwork to complement PIF within authentic settings. The aim of this didactic exercise was to explore the impact upon student pharmacists' PIF after viewing, analyzing, and reflecting upon a simulated pharmacist-patient encounter (PPE). A 12 min role-play video was created, featuring a pharmacist counseling a standardized patient on a new medication regimen; foundational principles of medication safety, health literacy, social determinants of health, empathic communication, and motivational interviewing were included in the counseling, with some aspects intentionally performed well, others in need of improvement. Also included were the patient's varied reactions to the counseling. Students assumed the observer role and learned vicariously through viewing the PPE. Postactivity debriefs included justifying a foundational principle performed well by the pharmacist, and another in need of improvement, and a self-reflection essay expressing the impact of viewing the PPE on their PIF, from which extracts were thematically analyzed for impact. The main themes of the impact included increased awareness of counseling techniques, patient-friendly medical jargon, patient perspectives/empathy, positive and negative pharmacist role-modeling, and the value of the observer role. This PPE exercise enhanced PIF in terms of students thinking, acting, and feeling like a pharmacist, based on students' self-reflections, which most often referenced effective pharmacist-patient communication and enacting optimal patient care.

Evaluation of a pharmacist's impact on the use of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists for weight management in a family medicine setting.

BACKGROUND: Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1) agonists carry benefits and risks that must be evaluated prior to use and monitored throughout weight management therapy. Pharmacists possess the accessibility and extensive medication knowledge to evaluate and monitor the use of GLP-1 therapy in weight management patients. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the clinical and financial impact of a pharmacist-directed weight management service utilizing GLP-1 receptor agonists in a family practice setting. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study including patients at 2 family practices, aged 18 and older, prescribed a weight management GLP-1 between October 1, 2021 and March 1, 2022 was performed. Patients who met inclusion and were prescribed a weight loss GLP-1 but were not managed by the clinical pharmacist were compared with the pharmacist cohort. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics including an independent t-test were used in the data analysis. RESULTS: There were 46 and 39 patients identified in the clinical pharmacist and primary care physician cohorts respectively. Patients in the clinical pharmacist cohort achieved a mean body weight reduction of 9.32% compared to 5.11% body weight reduction for patients in the primary care physician cohort (P = 0.01). There were 63 months identified of inappropriate GLP-1 therapy deprescribed in the clinical pharmacist cohort resulting in an estimated cost savings of $101,985.66. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of a pharmacist-led weight management clinic in 2 family medicine offices resulted in a significant reduction in body weight and reduction in total costs to the healthcare system compared to patients receiving weight management services from their primary care physician alone.

Barriers to the management of sexual dysfunction among people with psychosis: analysis of qualitative data from the REMEDY trial.

BACKGROUND: More than half of people who use antipsychotic medication for psychosis report having sexual dysfunction. The REMEDY trial aimed to find out if switching antipsychotic medication provides an effective way to reduce sexual dysfunction among people with psychosis. We set out to recruit 216 participants over a two-year period, but recruitment was stopped after an extended 12-month pilot phase, during which we recruited only 10 participants. As part of a nested process evaluation, we conducted qualitative interviews with front-line clinicians to examine barriers to recruitment to the trial. METHODS: We developed a semi-structured interview schedule to explore staff views on factors that influenced whether they referred potential participants to the study. We interviewed a purposive sample of 51 staff from four National Health Service (NHS) Trusts in England, ensuring a range of different backgrounds, seniority, and levels of involvement in the trial. Audio recordings of interviews were transcribed for verbatim, and data were analysed using an inductive approach to thematic analysis. RESULTS: Nine interconnected themes were generated. Six themes concerned barriers to recruitment; including; prioritising patients' mental stability, mutual discomfort and embarrassment about discussing a "taboo" subject, and concerns about unintended consequences of asking people with psychosis about their sexual functioning. Three themes, including the quality of treatment relationships and strategies for opening dialogue suggested ways to improve recognition of these "hidden" side effects. CONCLUSION: The identification and management of sexual dysfunction among people with psychosis are not priorities for mental health services in England at this time. Many staff working in front-line services feel unprepared and uncomfortable asking people with psychosis about these problems. While greater use of screening tools may improve the identification of sexual dysfunction among people with psychosis, the evaluation and implementation of interventions to manage them will continue to be challenging unless NHS leaders and senior clinicians demonstrate greater commitment to changing current clinical practice. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN12307891.

Assessing the impact of clinical pharmacists on naloxone coprescribing in the primary care setting.

PURPOSE: Opioid use and overdose are epidemic in the United States. While there is concern regarding the abuse of illegal opioids, overdose is also strongly associated with prescription opioids. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supports coprescribing of naloxone with opioids; however, a review of naloxone prescriptions recorded within a primary care group indicated limited use of the reversal agent. METHODS: Through the collaboration of pharmacy and information services personnel, a report was created to identify all patients receiving chronic opioid therapy. To assess the risk of overdose, a validated risk scoring method was used. If patients were determined to be at high risk for overdose, outreach by a clinical pharmacist was conducted to educate them on the benefits of naloxone. For patients agreeable to receiving naloxone, prescriptions were entered into the electronic health record for primary care provider (PCP) verification. Contact was made following order verification to ensure patient understanding of proper naloxone use and naloxone accessibility. RESULTS: Prior to the project (ie, in calendar year 2016), only 5 prescriptions for naloxone had been prescribed within the medical group. During the naloxone coprescribing initiative, 230 patients were identified by clinical pharmacists as being at elevated risk for opioid overdose. Of these, 86 (37%) were deemed ineligible for naloxone. Out of the 144 patients determined to be eligible, 63 (44%) were agreeable to receiving naloxone. Further review determined that 7 additional patients were agreeable after a follow-up conversation with their PCP. Of the patients that agreed to receive naloxone, 48 (76%) confirmed that they had picked up naloxone from their pharmacy. CONCLUSION: The naloxone coprescribing initiative was an innovative project that focused on an epidemic that affects communities across the United States. This program embraced the strengths of multiple departments for the good of the patient, in keeping with the idea of team-based care. The pharmacy-driven approach highlighted the importance of having pharmacists within an ambulatory care setting and allowed high-level pharmacist practice without adding to the workload of other members of the healthcare team.