Community Pharmacy Adherence, Mental and Cognitive Health Screening
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Community Pharmacy Adherence, Mental and Cognitive Health Brief Screening Intervention to improve patients with long-term chronic diseases health outcomes and signpost for early intervention
IRAS ID
251042
Contact name
Hana MORRISSEY
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Wolverhampton
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
0, 0
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 2 months, 1 days
Research summary
Research Summary
Mental health issues have been identified by the Department of Health as one of the key areas that require action in the next five years.
According to the Alzheimer’s Society, dementia affects people’s feelings, emotion and day to day life. The effects are not limited to them but also impact on their family and carers. Community Pharmacists could potentially have a role supporting people with dementia, their carers and family, to manage their medication and condition. Also, pharmacists can assist with the early detection of dementia in people with long term conditions.
This study aims to develop a new service in community pharmacies to support people living with long term chronic conditions including mental health conditions. The community pharmacists will use validated tools to screen patients while they are waiting for their prescriptions. Through a series of professional development sessions, the study is aiming to provide pharmacy staff with the knowledge and skills to be able to support people living with mental health issues.
This study will aim to screen 1000 patients diagnosed and receiving pharmacological therapy for long-term conditions. The tools used will provide the researcher with insight into the participants’ awareness of the need to adhere to therapy, their cognitive function and any mental health issues relationship with their disease progression and best health outcomes.Summary of Results
This study aimed to develop a new screening model designed for use in community pharmacies, to support people living with chronic health conditions. We hypothesised that poor memory and mental health may affect patients’ level of adherence to medications and self-care, resulting in poor long term health outcomes. There were three main interventions: screening for adherence, mental health and memory; referral as required to other healthcare professionals and medication optimisation. In addition to demographics, four validated tools were used: the Morisky 8-items scale, the clinically useful anxiety scale, the clinically useful depression scale and the dementia UK concerned about your memory questionnaire.
All pharmacy staff who were involved in delivery of the model received prior training and certification. To ensure safety for all concerned, pharmacists and their staff involved in the study also received training and certification in Mental Health First Aid.
The study concluded that the designed model is workable for delivery from community pharmacy. Community pharmacies are better placed to early intervene at the point of medication dispensing (initiation or repeat) to engage with the patient and share or review information about their conditions and medications, the consequences of good and poor adherence to therapy and clarify their responsibility in self-management. The self-completed screening surveys for adherence, mental health and cognitive function also proved successful to ensure that the patient is capable to undertake the self-management task, pharmacological, lifestyle and self-care, which is passed to them from their treating teams while they are waiting for their prescriptions.REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NE/0258
Date of REC Opinion
5 Oct 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion