Exploring a role for community pharmacists in the identification of alcohol-related liver disease: a qualitative interview study with professionals, patients, and the public
Exploring a role for community pharmacists in the identification of alcohol-related liver disease: a qualitative interview study with professionals, patients, and the public
Aims: to explore the views and attitudes of professionals, patients and the public to a role for community pharmacists in the identification of alcohol-related liver disease (ArLD).
Methods: semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of patients with ArLD, members of the public, pharmacy staff, and clinicians managing patients with ArLD across the Wessex region of south England. The interviews explored experiences of alcohol, ArLD and health advice in pharmacies and elicited views of what a pharmacist role in identifying ArLD could entail and factors influencing this. Transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Results: twenty-six participants were interviewed and three themes were generated: (i) acknowledging, seeking help and engaging with a hidden problem; (ii) professional roles, boundaries and attributes; (iii) communication, relationships, collaboration and support. Participants reported key challenges to identifying people at-risk of ArLD. Offering testing for ArLD was perceived to motivate engagement but there were concerns about pharmacists performing this. A role was mostly seen to be finding people at-risk and engaging them with further care such as referral to liver services. This was perceived to require developing interprofessional collaborations, remuneration and training for pharmacy staff, and community-based liver testing.
Conclusions: professionals, patient and public participants recognized a role for pharmacists in the identification of ArLD. This was envisaged to incorporate educating pharmacy users about ArLD risk, and identifying and directly engaging those at-risk with liver and support services through development of interprofessional collaborations. The findings of this study support and can inform future work to develop this role.
alcohol-related liver disease, case-finding, community pharmacy, identification, pharmacists, qualitative
Smith, Alexander
7da7147a-57dd-4bba-938a-808576dc2d85
Buchanan, Ryan M
9499f713-f684-4046-be29-83cd9d6f834d
Parkes, Julie
59dc6de3-4018-415e-bb99-13552f97e984
Ibrahim, Kinda
54f027ad-0599-4dd4-bdbf-b9307841a294
5 October 2024
Smith, Alexander
7da7147a-57dd-4bba-938a-808576dc2d85
Buchanan, Ryan M
9499f713-f684-4046-be29-83cd9d6f834d
Parkes, Julie
59dc6de3-4018-415e-bb99-13552f97e984
Ibrahim, Kinda
54f027ad-0599-4dd4-bdbf-b9307841a294
Smith, Alexander, Buchanan, Ryan M, Parkes, Julie and Ibrahim, Kinda
(2024)
Exploring a role for community pharmacists in the identification of alcohol-related liver disease: a qualitative interview study with professionals, patients, and the public.
Alcohol and Alcoholism, 59 (6), [agae069].
(doi:10.1093/alcalc/agae069).
Abstract
Aims: to explore the views and attitudes of professionals, patients and the public to a role for community pharmacists in the identification of alcohol-related liver disease (ArLD).
Methods: semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of patients with ArLD, members of the public, pharmacy staff, and clinicians managing patients with ArLD across the Wessex region of south England. The interviews explored experiences of alcohol, ArLD and health advice in pharmacies and elicited views of what a pharmacist role in identifying ArLD could entail and factors influencing this. Transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Results: twenty-six participants were interviewed and three themes were generated: (i) acknowledging, seeking help and engaging with a hidden problem; (ii) professional roles, boundaries and attributes; (iii) communication, relationships, collaboration and support. Participants reported key challenges to identifying people at-risk of ArLD. Offering testing for ArLD was perceived to motivate engagement but there were concerns about pharmacists performing this. A role was mostly seen to be finding people at-risk and engaging them with further care such as referral to liver services. This was perceived to require developing interprofessional collaborations, remuneration and training for pharmacy staff, and community-based liver testing.
Conclusions: professionals, patient and public participants recognized a role for pharmacists in the identification of ArLD. This was envisaged to incorporate educating pharmacy users about ArLD risk, and identifying and directly engaging those at-risk with liver and support services through development of interprofessional collaborations. The findings of this study support and can inform future work to develop this role.
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agae069
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Accepted/In Press date: 14 September 2024
Published date: 5 October 2024
Keywords:
alcohol-related liver disease, case-finding, community pharmacy, identification, pharmacists, qualitative
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Local EPrints ID: 497466
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/497466
ISSN: 0735-0414
PURE UUID: 224664fa-a077-462b-85d5-102260587b64
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Date deposited: 23 Jan 2025 17:35
Last modified: 20 Aug 2025 02:09
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Author:
Alexander Smith
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