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Trust and Safe Spaces: Mental Health Consumers’ and Carers’ Relationships with Community Pharmacy Staff

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Abstract

Background

Trusting relationships between mental health consumers and health care providers are critical in the management and recovery process. Although community pharmacy staff are well placed to form relationships with mental health consumers and carers, little is known about the existence, nature or significance of consumer–staff relationships.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to explore mental health consumers’ and carers’ perceptions of community pharmacy services, and describe the nature of their relationships with pharmacy staff.

Methods

Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 74 mental health consumers or carers who self-selected into the study. Thematic analysis was undertaken to explore participants’ perspectives.

Results

Positive experiences of pharmacy services were perceived to encourage consumers’ and carers’ trust in pharmacists and promote relationship development. This was enhanced when participants felt that elements of patient-centred care were part of the pharmacy services provided. Although some participants perceived community pharmacy to have a limited role in mental health, those who had established relationships highlighted the current role of pharmacists in their care, and appeared to welcome further extensions of pharmacists’ role in mental health.

Conclusions

Trusting relationships between consumers and carers and community pharmacy staff were deemed to be important in mental health care and contributed to consumers’ and carers’ views of pharmacy as a safe health care space. Community pharmacy services that included core elements of patient-centred care appeared to facilitate relationship formation and associated benefits. Education and training is needed for community pharmacy staff to improve mental health knowledge and promote positive engagement with consumers and carers.

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Notes

  1. Mental Health First Aid™ is the assistance provided to a person developing a mental health problem or in a mental health crisis, until appropriate professional treatment is received or until the crisis resolves.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, as part of the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement Research and Development Program managed by The Pharmacy Guild of Australia, grant RTF 2010/11-02 to Prof. Wheeler. The financial assistance provided must not be taken as endorsement of the contents of this report.The authors acknowledge the members of the Advisory Panel and Reference Group for their guidance and support, and the consumers and carers who participated in this study. The authors thank Brad McConachie and Rhonda Knights for providing administrative support.

Declarations

All authors were employees of Griffith University and provided input on study design, and reviewed and approved the manuscript. Ms. Mey, Dr. Knox and Dr. Kelly were responsible for the data analysis, interpretation and manuscript preparation. Ms. Mey was responsible for creating the first draft of the manuscript under the supervision of Prof. Davey. Prof. Wheeler has approved the overall content as the project leader. There are no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Griffith University School of Pharmacy, Clinical Sciences 2 Building (G16), Gold Coast, QLD, 4222, Australia

    Amary Mey

  2. Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Meadowbrook, QLD, Australia

    Kathy Knox, Fiona Kelly & Amanda J. Wheeler

  3. Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

    Amary Mey, Andrew K. Davey, Jane Fowler & Jasmina Fejzic

  4. Faculty of Medical Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Fiona Kelly & Amanda J. Wheeler

  5. School of Pharmacy, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

    Laetitia Hattingh & Denise McConnell

  6. Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia

    Laetitia Hattingh

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  1. Amary Mey
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  2. Kathy Knox
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  4. Andrew K. Davey
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  8. Denise McConnell
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Correspondence to Amary Mey.

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Mey, A., Knox, K., Kelly, F. et al. Trust and Safe Spaces: Mental Health Consumers’ and Carers’ Relationships with Community Pharmacy Staff. Patient 6, 281–289 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40271-013-0032-1

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