Citation

Wong YX, Khan TM, Wong ZJ, Ab Rahman AF, Jacob SA. Community Ment. Health J. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, 161 Cathedral St, Glasgow, G4 0RE, Scotland, UK. sabrina.anne@monash.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10597-019-00496-4

PMID

31667692

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess community pharmacists' (CPs) perceptions toward mental healthcare, and the barriers faced in providing pharmaceutical care (PC) services to these patients. A 40-item survey was posted to CPs. Ninety-six pharmacists participated. The majority (84.2%) agreed there is a role for CPs to play in mental health care, while approximately 60% agreed it is their responsibility to provide PC to these patients. The biggest barrier to providing this service is the lack of knowledge, cited by close to 50% of respondents. This corresponds with the revelation that close to 60% believe that they have a poor or fair understanding of mental disorders. About 30% of respondents said they do not stock psychotropic drugs at all, mainly due to medico-legal reasons, and low prescription requests. Our findings highlight the need for more training of CPs in managing patients with mental disorders.

Language: en

Keywords

Community pharmacist; Malaysia; Mental health; Pharmaceutical care; Psychotropics