The role of the community pharmacist in breast cancer services v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The role of the community pharmacist in breast cancer services
IRAS ID
219843
Contact name
Claire Anderson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Nottingham
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
As treatments improve and cancer is discovered earlier, people are living for longer with breast cancer. People living with breast cancer, or survivors as they are known, often need to take medicines for many years and say that they would like more support after returning home from hospital. The increased demand for breast cancer survivors to be cared for by general practitioners and other community-based professionals has allowed community pharmacy to take on a larger role in providing support. This study aims to investigate the needs of breast cancer survivors in the community and explore opportunities for pharmacists to improve their care. Study findings should support the development of a valuable new pharmacy-based service.
Focus groups will be conducted with survivors, community pharmacists and stakeholders (i.e. people with a potential interest in developing this type of service; such as representatives from local pharmacy groups, pharmacy businesses and cancer charities).
Survivors will include women (aged over 18) treated for breast cancer within primary care, with at least two years since they finished their main treatment (such as surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy). They will initially complete a short survey about themselves and their treatment. The focus groups will explore their experiences and views of the breast cancer care received in the community. The group will discuss how community pharmacists might improve care for women living with and after breast cancer.
A web-based pharmacist focus group will then discuss the findings; exploring pharmacist attitudes, feasibility and other operational aspects of introducing a pharmacy-led service to address the issues raised by survivors.
Finally a stakeholder meeting, (comprising of a presentation of research findings, followed by a discussion) will collect stakeholder perspectives of such a service, and discuss factors to consider when developing the idea further. (Telephone interviews will be held for stakeholders unable to attend.)
REC name
London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0298
Date of REC Opinion
7 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion