PHARM-LC
Research to understand what role community PHARMacy can play in supporting people with Long Covid.
| Chief Investigator: |
Professor Carolyn Chew-Graham, Dr Tom Kingstone (co-leads) |
| Co-investigators: |
Professor Ian Maidment (Aston University), Dr Sukvinder Bharma (University of Kent), Geraint Jones (Community Pharmacy practitioner), Dr Tracy Briggs, Matthew Shaw and Paula Higginson (University of Manchester), Dr Tamsin Fisher (Keele University), Katie Saunders (Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust) |
| Funder name: | National Institute for Health and care Research (NIHR) – Research for patient Benefit (RfPB) |
| Year | 2024-2025 (18 months) |
We are currently recruiting
If you are interested in participating and would like more information, please contact Tamsin Fisher on fmhs.longcovid@keele.ac.uk.
Background
People with continuing symptoms four-or-more weeks after COVID-19 infection are considered to have “long COVID”. Symptoms can include (but are not limited to): fatigue, loss of smell, shortness of breath and difficulties concentrating. Around 1.3 million people in the UK are currently living with long COVID. Women, health and social care workers, and people living in more deprived areas seem to be at higher risk of suffering with long COVID.
Primary care can play a key role in supporting people with long COVID, however, not all patients will seek help from their GP for their symptoms. This may be due to difficulty booking a face-to-face appointment or long waiting times. Identifying alternative opportunities to support people to manage long COVID is important. There are over 11,700 community pharmacies in the UK. These are conveniently located (e.g. in supermarket stores) and can be accessed without an appointment. Community pharmacies are well-placed to provide advice and support on long COVID, particularly when people are picking up prescriptions, COVID-19 testing kits, or seeking general health advice.
Further research is needed to understand the potential role of community pharmacies in supporting people with long COVID, particularly in more deprived areas.
Aim
To explore the role of community pharmacy in supporting the management of people with Long Covid.
Objectives:
- To explore with illness experiences or people with Long Covid, self-management strategies, and past/current/future help-seeking from and community pharmacy teams.
- To explore attitudes and beliefs among community pharmacy staff (pharmacists, technician, dispensers and counter assistants) about their past/current/future role in supporting people with Long Covid.
- To co-design an online training resource to enhance community pharmacy-led support for people with Long Covid.
Methods
We will interview about 20 people with long COVID and about 20 community pharmacy staff. will analyse conversations from these interviews to identify common experiences and themes. We will then present our findings to a group of stakeholders (health care professionals, pharmacists, members of the public), who will help us develop a new online training module for community pharmacy staff.
Results
Watch this space.
Outputs
Watch this space.