Substance Use Disorders Management Educational Intervention: Development and Evaluating a Tailored Substance Use Disorder Intervention for Community Pharmacists in Saskatoon

Abstract

Community pharmacists are accessible, knowledgeable, and trained health care providers who efficiently deliver many health interventions. While Substance Use Disorder (SUD) is a prevalent and escalating epidemic in North America, pharmacist SUD services are limited to dispensing. There is an opportunity for pharmacists to deliver community-based interventions for people living with SUD. Among various challenges and barriers for community pharmacists’ involvement in SUD services, lack of education and training are the most pressing. Therefore, we conducted two needs assessments among pharmacists and patients living with SUD. One-on-one interviews and focus groups were conducted to gather the data. The outcomes of the need assessments showed the need for SUD education for community pharmacists to understand the complex multifactorial nature of SUD and train on evidence-based practices for pharmacist-patient encounters. The need assessment for pharmacists also emphasized their need for a guiding practice tool that offers evidence-based practice suitable for pharmacist-patients encounters. On the other hand, the patients’ needs assessment stressed the importance of effective communication skills to deliver successful SUD services. Therefore, we developed a SUD management toolkit for community pharmacists. The toolkit was validated by an e-Delphi method in which experts were consulted on the clarity and usefulness of the toolkit. The toolkit guides pharmacists while caring for people living with SUD, adapting the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) approach. Finally, a one-day SUD workshop was designed and piloted. It included talks, a panel discussion, and a training session on a practice guide for eight community pharmacists. The workshop was evaluated with pre and post self-assessment surveys, showing a high satisfaction rate regarding the workshop contents and structure. After implementing the practice guide for three months, follow-up interviews were conducted to have an in-depth understanding of the participants' experiences. Analysis of the interviews showed overall positive sentiment but highlighted that compensation, time, and privacy are significant barriers to implementing the toolkit. This pilot intervention indicated the promising potential of pharmacist-patient encounters in a community pharmacy to address SUD at both the social and medical levels. However, several organizational barriers must be addressed before replicating the SUD management intervention on a larger scale. Large-scale intervention is the natural next step to measure the effect on the patients' SUD treatment outcomes.