University of Western Australia
A study led by The University of Western Australia researchers has found most pharmacists were seeing patients with mental health issues and specific training was effective in helping them provide better quality care.
The research team included Dr Deena Ashoorian and Professor Rhonda Clifford, from UWA’s School of Allied Health and Dr Joseph Carpini, a workplace mental health expert from UWA’s Business School.
Professor Clifford said the study, Pharmacists and Mental Health First Aid training: A comparative analysis of confidence, mental health assistance behaviours and perceived barriers, published in Early Interventions in Psychiatry was based on a survey of 161 pharmacists in Australia.
It found 56 per cent had undergone mental health first aid training and those that had were more confident in recognising the signs of a potential problem and approaching and helping patients.
Dr Ashoorian said 86 per cent reported having had at least one patient in the previous 12 months who they believed was experiencing a mental health problem or crisis.
“Mental health problems represent the fourth-largest disease burden in Australia and most people experiencing a mental health issue remain undiagnosed and disconnected from support systems,” Dr Ashoorian said.
“The fact that we found those pharmacists trained in mental health first aid were significantly more likely to intervene than those who were untrained is very important. This has real implications for how we train our students and public health policy.”
Dr Carpini said the results showed pharmacists who had completed the training were better equipped to assess the person and encourage the use of support systems.
“Pharmacists are encountering complex issues that require advanced skillsets to manage appropriately,” Dr Carpini said. “Surprisingly we found relatively frequent encounters with patients experiencing panic attacks, suicidal thoughts and behaviours and the potential effects of alcohol or drugs.
“This suggests training may influence how people perceive their jobs and their roles as frontline mental health providers.”