Pharmacist Roles Supporting Safe, Appropriate Opioid Use

A special issue of Pharmacy (ISSN 2226-4787). This special issue belongs to the section "Pharmacy Practice and Practice-Based Research".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2021) | Viewed by 6426

Special Issue Editors

School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
Interests: opioid communication; behavioral theories; patient perspectives; patient education; pharmacist education; medication self-management
School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
Interests: patient–provider communication; opioid education; pharmacist roles; patient education

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Pharmacists, easily accessible to patients, work at the front line of the opioid crisis. This Special Issue of Pharmacy will focus on the roles of pharmacists in opioid misuse mitigation and safety promotion. In particular, we are interested in the following topics:

  1. Pharmacists’ roles in patient education about opioid risks and safety;
  2. Patient perceptions/ preferences for opioid risks, safety information delivery, and implications for pharmacist roles;
  3. Strategies, resources, and programs that help pharmacists to reduce opioid misuse;
  4. Pharmacy education/training impact on pharmacist opioid medication safety roles.
  5. Systems/organizational and/or interprofessional impacts on pharmacists’ roles in opioid medication safety.

Papers can be exploratory and/or intervention focused in nature. Commentaries, robust literature reviews, and research briefs are encouraged in addition to research papers. We invite you to share your research, experiences, and expertise on these and related topics.

Prof. Dr. Betty Chewning
Dr. Tanvee Thakur
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmacy is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • opioid medication
  • pharmacists
  • misuse
  • safety
  • education
  • interventions
  • patient perspectives

Published Papers (2 papers)

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9 pages, 703 KiB  
Systematic Review
A Narrative Systematic Literature Review: A Focus on Qualitative Studies on HIV and Medication-Assisted Therapy in the United States
by Alina Cernasev, Sunitha Kodidela, Michael P. Veve, Theodore Cory, Hilary Jasmin and Santosh Kumar
Pharmacy 2021, 9(1), 67; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pharmacy9010067 - 23 Mar 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3061
Abstract
Over the last two decades, the United States (U.S.) has experienced an opioid crisis that has had a significant negative societal and economic impact. Due to the high utilization of opioids in Persons Living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA), there is a need [...] Read more.
Over the last two decades, the United States (U.S.) has experienced an opioid crisis that has had a significant negative societal and economic impact. Due to the high utilization of opioids in Persons Living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA), there is a need for a qualitative literature review that presents opioid-use related problems in this population. This study aims to present and identify a thematic overview of the qualitative manuscripts on PLWHA who take opioid medications in the U.S., with a focus on perceptions surrounding medication assisted therapy. The systematic literature search was performed in December 2019. Four databases were searched: PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (CINAHL). A total of 5348 results were exported from databases into EndNote x9, and duplicates were removed for a total of 3039 unique abstracts to screen. The records were imported into Rayyan, an online platform designed to expedite the screening process. Three authors screened titles and abstracts and determined 19 articles that would be screened in full text. On 9 April 2020, it was determined that eight articles would be included for review. The analysis of the eight manuscripts that fit the inclusion and exclusion criteria revealed barriers and facilitators to medication assisted therapy (MAT) in PLWHA. This review communicates or describes the story of PLWHA who might have delayed access to HIV healthcare providers and the commencement of antiretroviral therapy. In the literature, several studies have focused on the role of physicians in prescribing and addressing the medication regimens but none of the studies examined the role of pharmacists in access to care in this population. Therefore, further research is needed for a better understanding of the social aspects of taking opioid medications in PLWHA and the role of pharmacists within the continuum of care. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pharmacist Roles Supporting Safe, Appropriate Opioid Use)
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7 pages, 917 KiB  
Brief Report
Evaluating the Effect a of Handout on Community Pharmacists’ Opioid Safety Counseling
by Tanvee Thakur and Betty Chewning
Pharmacy 2021, 9(1), 49; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pharmacy9010049 - 28 Feb 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2941
Abstract
Community pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare professionals to counsel patients about opioid risks and safety. Resources such as handouts are needed to improve pharmacists’ self-efficacy about opioid safety counseling. This study aims to understand the effects and usefulness of handouts in opioid [...] Read more.
Community pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare professionals to counsel patients about opioid risks and safety. Resources such as handouts are needed to improve pharmacists’ self-efficacy about opioid safety counseling. This study aims to understand the effects and usefulness of handouts in opioid risk and safety counseling in community pharmacists. Three community pharmacies participated in this study for three weeks, where five pharmacists participated in completing a survey about the process and integration of a handout in opioid medication consultation. Pharmacists filled the survey after counseling patients for opioid medication/s. Field observations were conducted at one of these sites as well. A total of 57 consults were recorded via surveys in these pharmacies. Only using the handout to guide the conversation was rated much less useful than integrating the handout and showing it to patient in the consult (β = 0.94, adjusted R2 = 0.29, p < 0.00001). Satisfaction about the patient education provided increased if opioid risks and safety topics were discussed (β = 0.7, adjusted R2 = 0.32, p = 0.00015). Patients seemed engaged in the consults, which was evident from the head nods, questions asked, and attention toward the pharmacist. Effective communication with patients or patient caregivers about opioid safety can be accomplished by using and modeling use of this handout and by providing structured instructions to use this handout optimally. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pharmacist Roles Supporting Safe, Appropriate Opioid Use)
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