Lessons from my Grandmother: Why Pharmacists are Self-Care’s VIPs (Very Important Pharmacists)

Pharmacists are critical to the primary care fabric of self-care in the 21st century. We should all support them to take on an increasingly active role

?

I had a traditional Italian childhood, growing up in a four-generation Italian household in La Spezia, a small city in Northern Italy. We lived with both my grandmother and great-grandmother and I learnt so much from listening to these strong women and their life experiences. How they got through hard times with dignity and determination and by caring. They regularly dished up advice to each of us on how to live a good and healthy life.

Their wisdom was heavily shaped by the significant individuals in our community at that time, including my grandmother’s preferred go-to advisor – the local pharmacist.

A pharmacist was always easy to access when you needed quick advice. They were open to all and always took the time to speak with you on a personal level – and today I still really value this.

?

I’ve always admired the advisory role pharmacists perform, and it is an area I feel that we as a population can make better use of, given the burdens placed on health systems today.

?

Reigniting an ancient profession

Over the years, pharmacists have contributed hugely to society across the world. The apothecary profession dates back to at least 2600 BC in ancient Babylon. From its roots, enabling anyone to have access to healthcare, the profession has become an important element of 21st century scientific endeavour that underpins much of pharmaceutical discovery and development. Combining trusted science with human understanding, pharmacists are able to deliver best care for patients.

In recent years, the evolution of pharmacy as a clinical profession has come more to the fore. What happened during the pandemic was an important but subtle advance. While access to doctors was restricted due to the risks of infection; pharmacists, by contrast, remained open. They helped ease customers through an anxious time by providing assessment, advice and medicines to people who were unable to access care elsewhere.??

Although they’re highly trained professionals, experts in the composition and action of medication, an experienced pharmacist also possesses an important extra: tacit knowledge of patients and customers. People are likely to interact with a pharmacist more frequently than with a family doctor, and this familiarity with individuals and their health is a strength.

Key to self-care

This is especially important because the ongoing role of pharmacists in self-care is vital to ease pressure on national health systems. They play a crucial advisory role in supporting people’s efforts to self-manage minor conditions, but their valuable time in supporting this is split with other duties. There is a fine balance here, and it is easy to deprioritise advising patients particularly when there is much else to juggle in a busy pharmacy. We need to find ways to support pharmacists, to level up their time so they are sufficiently freed up to focus on helping patients to self-manage their minor conditions.????

With pharmacists being such a valuable knowledge resource, they could also play an increasing role with regard to health education. A recent study involving 17 European countries showed that almost half of the European population (46%)[1] has inadequate and problematic health literacy.

There can be no question that the willingness to step up and play an increasingly important role is there within the profession. The opportunity exists to help people look after themselves in areas such as pain management, and coping with simple cold and flu symptoms, for example.???

Because a pharmacy is likely to be located in the heart of the community, it is the most accessible first point of contact for trusted advice. With its real-time communication links to public health and primary care authorities, pharmacists can help the authorities detect and prepare for surges of known and novel diseases, as well as supporting everyday health.

Take the example of pain relief. Pain is a universal human experience, yet unique to everyone. Haleon’s #ListenToPain initiative explores ways to help pharmacists personalise their approach to pain management conversations, for better clinical outcomes.

Working with leading experts, Haleon brings together the latest thinking on personalised pain management strategies and will continue to grow and evolve the resources available to pharmacists.

The bigger picture

The wisdom of my grandmother in seeking out and heeding her pharmacist’s advice resonates with me today. Supporting people to live a healthy lifestyle and empowering them to self-manage minor ailments could play a vital role in freeing up healthcare and hospital resources for those with urgent needs. However, challenges such as poor health literacy and low investment in prevention remain, limiting the positive ways in which self-care can impact healthcare in Europe. We need our pharmacists to be community self-care champions, and we need to act now to support them.

With this in mind, we’re sharing our white paper – Redefining the role of self-care in Europe – at the European Parliament next week. We look forward to telling you more about our 10 recommendations that will help bring us all closer to achieving this vision.

[1] https://m-pohl.net/sites/m-pohl.net/files/inline-files/HLS19_International%20Report%20%28002%29_0.pdf