PSTU-07 - Professional sustainability and positive practice in community pharmacy: Supporting the pharmacy workforce globally

Great Hall 3-4 Tuesday 26 September 2023, 14:30-16:00

Organised by FIP's Community Pharmacy Section

Chair(s)

Dr Sham Moodley, ExCo member FIP Community Pharmacy Section, South Africa

Introduction

Meeting the growing demands on health systems is having a significant impact on the wellbeing of all health professionals. Community pharmacists and pharmacies have played a pivotal role in the fight against the COVID pandemic which has placed increased workload pressure and its subsequent effects on the wellbeing of pharmacists worldwide. Furthermore, the changing roles and evolving scope of pharmacists may also be exerting additional stress in the workplace. Pressures on the supply chain of medicinal products and pharmacy staff shortages are also contributing to a more difficult professional practice. The evolving economic, professional practice and workplace pressures need to be addressed and it is critical for all pharmacy workplaces to be supported with evidence-based strategies that can be adapted to foster positive mental health and wellbeing. This session will enable participants to better understand the workplace pressures faced by community pharmacists worldwide, and to explore pharmacists’ views on the strategies to best support the workforce for these increased pressures through the generation of a policy position and a series of evidence-based recommendations for member organizations of FIP and individual members to adopt, as part of an FIP Community Pharmacy Section (CPS) report. This session will present the findings of a 2023 report produced by FIP’s Community Pharmacy Section, including a literature review, a series of town-style meetings and a global survey of pharmacy organizations. The findings will be promoted during this session for use in member countries to better support individual pharmacists.

Programme

14:30 – 14:35	Introduction by the chair
14:35 – 14:55	Pharmacy workforce sustainability and policy — A global project by the FIP Dr Sarah Dineen-Griffin, ExCo member FIP Community Pharmacy Section Australia
14:55 – 15:10	Applications of learnings from community pharmacy practice and across FIP Mr Daragh Connolly, ExCo Member Community Pharmacy Section, Ireland
15:10 – 15:55	Perspectives from community pharmacists around the world Mr Gonzalo Miguel Adsuar-Meseguer, ECPG Secretary, Spain Dr Alistair Bursey, Canada, ExCo member FIP Community Pharmacy Section Australia Mr Daragh Connolly, ExCo Member Community Pharmacy Section, Ireland Dr Sarah Dineen-Griffin, ExCo member FIP Community Pharmacy Section Australia Mrs Mojo Mokoena, South African Pharmacy Council, South Africa Mrs Leonila Ocampo, Asia Pacific Institute For Medication Management, Inc., Philippines Mr Raj Vaidya, CPS ExCo member, India
15:55 – 16:00	Closing

Learning objectives

To assess the importance of personal, professional and community wellbeing and the challenges to mental fitness and wellbeing faced by pharmacists
To analyse the enablers and barriers to professional sustainability and positive practice environment
To explore pharmacists’ views on strategies to best support the pharmaceutical workforce to ensure the highest quality of care is delivered
To explore how member organizations can generate solutions to support the health and wellbeing of community pharmacists and their teams

Take home messages

There is increasing evidence that pharmacists’ mental health and wellbeing are being negatively affected. The evolving economic, professional practice and workplace pressures need to be addressed and it is critical for all pharmacy workplaces to be supported with evidence-based strategies that can be adapted for country context to foster positive mental health and wellbeing. This is a critical piece of work exploring how FIP and their member organizations, can better support pharmacists for professional sustainability.