The Potential Role of the Pharmacist in Supporting Patients with Depression – A Literature-Based Point of View

• Main Authors: Kamusheva M, Ignatova D, Golda A, Skowron A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2020-02-01
• Series: Integrated Pharmacy Research and Practice
• Subjects: depression; drug-related problems; pharmaceutical care; pharmacists; guideline
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/the-potential-role-of-the-pharmacist-in-supporting-patients-with-depre-peer-reviewed-article-IPRP

Maria Kamusheva, 1 Desislava Ignatova, 2 Anna Golda, 3 Agnieszka Skowron 3 1Department of “Organization and Economics of Pharmacy”, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria; 2Department of “Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology”, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria; 3Department of Social Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jagiellonian University MC, Krakow, PolandCorrespondence: Maria KamushevaDepartment of “Organization and Economics of Pharmacy”, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Sofia, Dunav Str. 2, 1000, Sofia, BulgariaEmail [e-mail]: The current article is aimed at identifying the best practice for counseling around depression in community and outpatient pharmacies, resulting in a draft guideline, proposing key steps and an algorithm for integration of community pharmacists into care for patients with depression.Methods: A literature review was performed followed by a detailed analysis, for the purpose of creation a short draft document used as a basis for creation of a guideline for pharmaceutical care for patients with depression. The technological scheme PRISMA flow diagram was applied. The paper is based on current knowledge, taking into consideration already published articles, guidelines, and recommendations about pharmaceutical care for patients with depression, giving a basis for further studies.Results: This paper includes two main sections: 1) depression – a short description of the main symptoms, risk factors and pharmacotherapy guidelines available in Bulgaria important for the purposes of ensuring qualitative community-based pharmaceutical care; and  2) the pharmacists’ role in providing high-quality care – the main aspects of pharmaceutical care for patients with depression with specific examples.Conclusion: The involvement of pharmacists in supporting depressive patients is crucial taking into account the specific characteristics of the pharmacological treatment: delayed onset of clinical results, risks in case of sudden pharmacotherapy abruption without physician consultation, multiple adverse drug reactions and drug–drug, drug–food and drug–alcohol interactions, etc. The current article could also be used as an initial document for creating a methodological guideline for providing pharmaceutical care services for patients with depression.Keywords: depression, drug-related problems, pharmaceutical care, pharmacists, guideline