Pharmacists globally are broadening their roles to support self-care, aiming to enhance patient health outcomes through increased contributions and proactive
behaviours, according to a new report.
However, significant barriers, including inadequate funding and limited access to patient records, impede the optimisation of self-care activities and outcomes
improvement in this area, the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) said in its report.
The FIP report, titled 'Community Pharmacy Insights: Supporting the Need for Self-Care,' gathers insights from 238 respondents across 55 countries with the aim
of providing evidence-based policy support for workforce development.
Nearly all respondents (93.2 per cent) indicated that pharmacists should actively engage in providing self-care support, FIP said. Furthermore, 48.9 per cent
supported the involvement of pharmacy technicians, while 39.2 per cent endorsed the participation of pharmacy assistants and other team members in offering
self-care support.