TY - JOUR

T1 - Towards improving service delivery in screening and intervention services in community pharmacies

T2 - a case study of an alcohol IBA service

AU - Mackridge, Adam J.

AU - Krska, Janet

AU - Stokes, Elizabeth

AU - Heim, Derek

N1 - Info retrieved from Scopus. Author no longer at Lancaster. Pre 1 April 2016 publication. Only non-compliant for Lancaster's OA Policy (from 1 May 2015)

PY - 2016/3

Y1 - 2016/3

N2 - Background: Previous studies have demonstrated positive outcomes from a range of pharmacy public health services, but barriers to delivery remain. This paper explores the processes of delivering an alcohol screening and intervention service, with a view to improving service delivery. Methods: A mixed-methods, multi-perspective approach was used, comprising in-pharmacy observations and recording of service provision, follow-up interviews with service users and interactive feedback sessions with service providers. Results: Observations and recordings indicate that staff missed opportunities to offer the service and that both availability and delivery of the service were inconsistent, partly owing to unavailability of trained staff and service restrictions. Most service users gave positive accounts of the service and considered pharmacies to be appropriate places for this service. Respondents also described positive impacts, ranging from thinking more about alcohol consumption generally to substantial reductions in consumption. Key facilitators to service provision included building staff confidence and service champions. Barriers included commissioning issues and staff perception of alcohol as a sensitive topic. Conclusions: Findings support expansion of pharmacies' role in delivering public health services and highlight benefits of providing feedback to pharmacy staff on their service provision as a possible avenue for service improvement. © 2016 The Author.

AB - Background: Previous studies have demonstrated positive outcomes from a range of pharmacy public health services, but barriers to delivery remain. This paper explores the processes of delivering an alcohol screening and intervention service, with a view to improving service delivery. Methods: A mixed-methods, multi-perspective approach was used, comprising in-pharmacy observations and recording of service provision, follow-up interviews with service users and interactive feedback sessions with service providers. Results: Observations and recordings indicate that staff missed opportunities to offer the service and that both availability and delivery of the service were inconsistent, partly owing to unavailability of trained staff and service restrictions. Most service users gave positive accounts of the service and considered pharmacies to be appropriate places for this service. Respondents also described positive impacts, ranging from thinking more about alcohol consumption generally to substantial reductions in consumption. Key facilitators to service provision included building staff confidence and service champions. Barriers included commissioning issues and staff perception of alcohol as a sensitive topic. Conclusions: Findings support expansion of pharmacies' role in delivering public health services and highlight benefits of providing feedback to pharmacy staff on their service provision as a possible avenue for service improvement. © 2016 The Author.

KW - alcohol

KW - community pharmacy

KW - primary care

KW - screening

KW - service improvement

U2 - 10.1093/pubmed/fdv010

DO - 10.1093/pubmed/fdv010

M3 - Journal article

VL - 38

SP - 92

EP - 98

JO - Journal of Public Health

JF - Journal of Public Health

SN - 1741-3842

IS - 1

ER -