?Self-care support of long-term conditions (LTCs): A qualitative study of community pharmacists? Perspectives?

BackgroundSelf-care support by healthcare professionals (HCPs) has evolved as an important approach of managing LTCs, with evidence suggesting improved health and economic outcomes. Community pharmacists are widely accessible HCPs, with regular contact with people with LTCs. This study aimed to explore how community pharmacists conceptualised and applied self-care support in their practice.MethodsCommunity pharmacists in England (n=12) and Scotland (n=12) participated in this qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews were used to explore participants? understanding of the concept of self-care of LTCs and how they engaged in self-care support. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically using the interpretative phenomenological analysis approach. NHS research ethics committee approval was obtained.ResultsDespite some differences in contracted services for LTCs in England and Scotland, the views of participants were similar. Participants described self-care as the responsibilities and actions that patients took to become independent in caring for their LTCs, supported by HCPs. However, most participants did not reflect this conceptual understanding when describing how they supported their patients to undertake self-care. They indicated that they undertook self-care support primarily by providing patients with medication-related information, advice and counselling. Analysis also suggested that participants undertook self-care support when delivering specific services or interventions. The findings indicated that self-care support was one-off, fragmented and medicines-focussed, rather than being patient-centred.ImplicationsSince community pharmacists? perceptions of self-care support do not extend to holistic, patient-centred care packages, there is a need to have a clearer understanding of why this is, and how best to support change.