Screening for Social Needs Outside the Comfort Zone of Community Pharmacists

Practicing community pharmacists and technicians lack confidence and comfort in screening patients for social needs, according to results from a pilot study published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.

“While most pharmacy personnel in this study agreed that social determinants of health were important and relevant, there was still a gap in understanding how to practically screen for and address social needs,” wrote corresponding author Tyler Marie Kiles, PharmD, BC-ADM, of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, and coauthors. 

The study explored the comfort and confidence of 141 pharmacists and 16 pharmacy technicians at a chain retail pharmacy in discussing social determinants of health with patients. Participants completed a brief online survey on different aspects of screening for social determinants of health, such as the importance and benefit, knowledge of social resources, relevant training, and workflow feasibility.

According to the findings, both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians reported lacking confidence and comfort in screening for social needs. The main barriers were lack of knowledge of social resources, inadequate training, and workflow concerns.

After the baseline survey, respondents were invited to complete a 1-hour virtual continuing education program on social need screening, which included the patient perspective, workflow and communication considerations, mock video interactions, and an introduction to resources for patients. Among 38 pharmacy personnel who viewed the training and responded to a second survey, comfort and confidence in screening for social needs was significantly higher compared with the pre-training survey. 

“This study shows that pharmacy personnel lack confidence and comfort addressing social needs at baseline and suggests that adequate training and resources may help address this concern,” researchers wrote. “Further research is needed to design impactful educational materials empower pharmacy staff to have effective conversations about social needs and risks with patients.”

Reference:
Kiles TM, Chen C, Leibold C, Cardosi L, Hill H, Hohmeier KC. Pharmacy personnel comfort and confidence in screening for social needs–a pilot study. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association. Published online February 7, 2023. doi:10.1016/j.japh.2023.02.003