Rural pharmacist perceptions of a project assessing their role in the management of depression.

Objective: This paper explores pharmacist perceptions of a pilot study assessing the impact of specialist training on depression for rural community pharmacists on their understanding of treatment and psychological well-being of patients. Design: Mixed method survey. Setting: Rural community pharmacies. Participants: Thirty-two rural based community pharmacists. Interventions: Recruited pharmacists were allocated to either the ‘control’ or ‘intervention’ group. Intervention pharmacists were given training in depression and asked to dispense medication with extra advice and support, while control pharmacists provided usual care. Outcome measures: Understanding of depression, current involvement in patients with depression, changes in practice. Results: All pharmacists were more likely to initiate conversation, discuss medication and its side effects, point out the importance of remaining on the medication, provide ongoing follow-up and encourage patients to talk with their GPs and pharmacists by the end of the project. Intervention pharmacists were more likely than the control pharmacists to initiate conversation on dispensing a repeat prescription and to discuss extended support. Conclusion: Response to the project by pharmacists was generally very positive. It is recommended that a longitudinal study based on this project be undertaken which involves pharmacists, GPs and other mental health professionals and trials a holistic approach to mental health care.