Pharmaceutical Public Health: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring Pharmacy Professionals’ Advanced Roles in Public Health, Including the Barriers and Enablers
Background: In the UK and globally, pharmacy professionals (pharmacists and pharmacy technicians) contribute to the delivery of local and national public or population health interventions. The existing literature on pharmaceutical public health predominantly focuses on micro-level activities, prima...
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MDPI AG
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Pharmacy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/13/2/37 |
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| author | Diane Ashiru-Oredope Roeann Osman Adeola H. Ayeni Eleanor J. Harvey Maria Nasim Emma Wright Christina Narh Uju Okereke Tasmin Harrison Christopher Garland Cecilia Pyper Andrew Evans Marion Bennie |
| author_facet | Diane Ashiru-Oredope Roeann Osman Adeola H. Ayeni Eleanor J. Harvey Maria Nasim Emma Wright Christina Narh Uju Okereke Tasmin Harrison Christopher Garland Cecilia Pyper Andrew Evans Marion Bennie |
| author_sort | Diane Ashiru-Oredope |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: In the UK and globally, pharmacy professionals (pharmacists and pharmacy technicians) contribute to the delivery of local and national public or population health interventions. The existing literature on pharmaceutical public health predominantly focuses on micro-level activities, primarily describing community pharmacies delivering public health interventions to individuals. There is little-known evidence on pharmacy professionals’ involvement in delivering public health interventions at meso- (e.g., organisational) and macro (national/policy) levels, nor to what extent pharmacy professionals have specialist/advanced roles within public health practice. This study specifically explored pharmacy professionals’ specialist/advanced roles within public health as well as the opportunities and barriers to career development. The analyses of this mixed-methods study makes a series of important recommendations for future action. Methods: This study included two independent cross-sectional electronic surveys for pharmacy professionals and public health professionals, a call for evidence, and two workshops to develop recommendations. Results: Pharmacy professionals (n = 128) and public health professionals (n = 54) across the UK participated in the surveys. Most of the Pharmacy Professionals respondents were female (70%), pharmacists (85%), working in primary (33%) or secondary (25%) care settings, mainly based in England (75%), and most (63%) lacked formal public health qualifications although they were involved in a diverse range of public health interventions. The public health professionals were mostly females (67%), practicing in England (58%). Both professional groups identified opportunities and barriers to pharmacy professionals’ involvement in public health. Almost half of the public health professionals respondents (44%) stated that they had a pharmacy professional working as part of their current public health teams. Eighty-seven percent of public health professional respondents (45/52) agreed that having pharmacists or pharmacy technicians specialising in public health would be beneficial or very beneficial. Most of the documents, reports, and case histories provided through the call for evidence were unpublished. The workshops generated 94 recommendation statements, highlighting collaboration and the need to acknowledge pharmacy professionals’ contributions to public health. Conclusion: The recommendations for strategic action at meso- and macro-levels included three main themes: adopting a national strategic approach to pharmaceutical public health, including improving commissioning; formalising pharmaceutical public health workforce development; and promoting further evidence-based pharmaceutical public health research and development. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e0d1f4a6475e4fc490124c492d3723f4 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2226-4787 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Pharmacy |
| spelling | doaj-art-e0d1f4a6475e4fc490124c492d3723f42025-08-20T03:13:51ZengMDPI AGPharmacy2226-47872025-03-011323710.3390/pharmacy13020037Pharmaceutical Public Health: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring Pharmacy Professionals’ Advanced Roles in Public Health, Including the Barriers and EnablersDiane Ashiru-Oredope0Roeann Osman1Adeola H. Ayeni2Eleanor J. Harvey3Maria Nasim4Emma Wright5Christina Narh6Uju Okereke7Tasmin Harrison8Christopher Garland9Cecilia Pyper10Andrew Evans11Marion Bennie12Clinical and Public Health Group, UK Health Security Agency, London E14 4PU, UKClinical and Public Health Group, UK Health Security Agency, London E14 4PU, UKPublic Health, Teeside University, Middlesborough TS1 3BX, UKClinical and Public Health Group, UK Health Security Agency, London E14 4PU, UKClinical and Public Health Group, UK Health Security Agency, London E14 4PU, UKPublic Health Team, Northumberland County Council, Newcastle NE61 2EF, UKPharmacy Department, Barts Health NHS Trust, London E1 2ES, UKNHS England East Midlands Team, NHS England, Birmingham LE3 8RA, UKPublic Health Action Support Team (PHAST), London SL9 7QE, UKPharmaceutical Directorate, Department of Health, Belfast BT4 3SQ, UKPublic Health Action Support Team (PHAST), London SL9 7QE, UKHealth and Social Services Group, Welsh Government, Cardiff CF10 3NQ, UKPublic Health Scotland, Edinburgh EH12 9EB, UKBackground: In the UK and globally, pharmacy professionals (pharmacists and pharmacy technicians) contribute to the delivery of local and national public or population health interventions. The existing literature on pharmaceutical public health predominantly focuses on micro-level activities, primarily describing community pharmacies delivering public health interventions to individuals. There is little-known evidence on pharmacy professionals’ involvement in delivering public health interventions at meso- (e.g., organisational) and macro (national/policy) levels, nor to what extent pharmacy professionals have specialist/advanced roles within public health practice. This study specifically explored pharmacy professionals’ specialist/advanced roles within public health as well as the opportunities and barriers to career development. The analyses of this mixed-methods study makes a series of important recommendations for future action. Methods: This study included two independent cross-sectional electronic surveys for pharmacy professionals and public health professionals, a call for evidence, and two workshops to develop recommendations. Results: Pharmacy professionals (n = 128) and public health professionals (n = 54) across the UK participated in the surveys. Most of the Pharmacy Professionals respondents were female (70%), pharmacists (85%), working in primary (33%) or secondary (25%) care settings, mainly based in England (75%), and most (63%) lacked formal public health qualifications although they were involved in a diverse range of public health interventions. The public health professionals were mostly females (67%), practicing in England (58%). Both professional groups identified opportunities and barriers to pharmacy professionals’ involvement in public health. Almost half of the public health professionals respondents (44%) stated that they had a pharmacy professional working as part of their current public health teams. Eighty-seven percent of public health professional respondents (45/52) agreed that having pharmacists or pharmacy technicians specialising in public health would be beneficial or very beneficial. Most of the documents, reports, and case histories provided through the call for evidence were unpublished. The workshops generated 94 recommendation statements, highlighting collaboration and the need to acknowledge pharmacy professionals’ contributions to public health. Conclusion: The recommendations for strategic action at meso- and macro-levels included three main themes: adopting a national strategic approach to pharmaceutical public health, including improving commissioning; formalising pharmaceutical public health workforce development; and promoting further evidence-based pharmaceutical public health research and development.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/13/2/37pharmacypharmacoequityhealth inequalitiesemergency preparedness resilience and responsecommunity pharmacypolicy |
| spellingShingle | Diane Ashiru-Oredope Roeann Osman Adeola H. Ayeni Eleanor J. Harvey Maria Nasim Emma Wright Christina Narh Uju Okereke Tasmin Harrison Christopher Garland Cecilia Pyper Andrew Evans Marion Bennie Pharmaceutical Public Health: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring Pharmacy Professionals’ Advanced Roles in Public Health, Including the Barriers and Enablers Pharmacy pharmacy pharmacoequity health inequalities emergency preparedness resilience and response community pharmacy policy |
| title | Pharmaceutical Public Health: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring Pharmacy Professionals’ Advanced Roles in Public Health, Including the Barriers and Enablers |
| title_full | Pharmaceutical Public Health: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring Pharmacy Professionals’ Advanced Roles in Public Health, Including the Barriers and Enablers |
| title_fullStr | Pharmaceutical Public Health: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring Pharmacy Professionals’ Advanced Roles in Public Health, Including the Barriers and Enablers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pharmaceutical Public Health: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring Pharmacy Professionals’ Advanced Roles in Public Health, Including the Barriers and Enablers |
| title_short | Pharmaceutical Public Health: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring Pharmacy Professionals’ Advanced Roles in Public Health, Including the Barriers and Enablers |
| title_sort | pharmaceutical public health a mixed methods study exploring pharmacy professionals advanced roles in public health including the barriers and enablers |
| topic | pharmacy pharmacoequity health inequalities emergency preparedness resilience and response community pharmacy policy |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/13/2/37 |
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