Role of the community pharmacist in the care of patients with chronic schizophrenia in the community

This study, using a postal questionnaire, investigated the involvement of 534 community pharmacists with patients suffering from schizophrenia. The majority of the 236 respondents regularly dispensed medication for patients with schizophrenia and almost three‐quarters had been asked for advice about...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The International journal of pharmacy practice 1996-12, Vol.4 (4), p.187-195
Main Authors: MASLEN, C. L., REES, L., REDFERN, P. H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Community care
Health care
Mental health
Patients
Pharmaceuticals
Schizophrenia
United Kingdom
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Summary:This study, using a postal questionnaire, investigated the involvement of 534 community pharmacists with patients suffering from schizophrenia. The majority of the 236 respondents regularly dispensed medication for patients with schizophrenia and almost three‐quarters had been asked for advice about medication from such patients or their carers. However, the majority of respondents believed that the advice they could give to these patients was limited by their knowledge of schizophrenia (86 per cent) and of therapeutics (70 per cent). Other perceived constraints to giving advice included lack of contact with other health professionals, poor communication skills and lack of experience in dealing with the mentally ill. Respondents were significantly less confident about advising patients with schizophrenia than advising other patient groups. The results suggest that there is a need to encourage community pharmacists' participation in continuing education and to improve liaison with other community health professionals such as community psychiatric nurses.
ISSN:0961-7671
2042-7174
DOI:10.1111/j.2042-7174.1996.tb00867.x