GSK launches 3-year program of pharmacist support

GSK Consumer Healthcare is starting a three-year support program for those in the pharmacy profession, aiming to provide practical resources and mental health provisions. A recent report from the company, Standing with Pharmacists in the Age of Self-Care outlines findings from a roundtable it hosted earlier this year “We’ve seen COVID-19 have a significant impact on consumers’ understanding of self-care, leading to an increased focus on wellbeing and everyday healthcare,” said said Tess Player, Global Head of Expert at GSK Consumer Healthcare, in a press release. “During this time, pharmacies played a vital role in providing care and advice to their patients – particularly with many other health facilities closed. Our research shows that more than half of Europeans are planning to consult their pharmacist more often than before the pandemic. Yet in general, pharmacists remain under-utilised, despite being the most widely distributed health resource in Europe.” Read: Canada’s pharmacy faculties join indigenization efforts The report illuminated six barriers the pharmacy community faces in fulfilling their role: “workload; remuneration; limited education on disease prevention; public misperceptions of pharmacists’ expertise; integration challenges within the wider healthcare system; and support for identifying and addressing low health literacy among health consumers.” The three-year program the company is initiating aims to tackle these barriers. In its first year, 2021-22, it will focus on mental health and wellbeing support for pharmacists and their teams. And it will develop behavioural change tool and guidance for pharmacists around self-care. In year two, the program will look to help pharmacists manage workloads while maintaining wellbeing, by developing patient info and diagnostic tools. During 2022-23, the program will also seek to address health literacy challenges. And in year three, the program will look to boost public awareness of pharmacists’ role in self-care among the public. Our three-year plan is only the beginning; we have spent years working with experts to gain a better understanding of the barriers the pharmacy community faces and how we can empower them to fulfil their utmost potential,” Player added. Read: Women and migraine: The pharmacist’s role

GSK launches 3-year program of pharmacist support

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