Community Pharmacy Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background. As a central part of the healthcare system, the community pharmacies are afflicted by the repercussions of the pandemic. Therefore, they have to adapt their services according to the needs of their communities. Objective. This article presents a systematic review with the aim to identify the additional services that community pharmacies are providing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. The PubMed, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect databases were searched systematically for relevant articles between December 2019 and April 2020, using “Community Pharmacy,” “Services,” “COVID-19,” “Coronavirus,” and “Pandemic” as the keywords. Fifty-nine articles in English, Portuguese, or Spanish were obtained and after applying the filtering criteria, nine of them were selected and included in the study. Results. Community pharmacies should provide pharmaceutical services that are according to the needs of the communities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, changes of these services must be in line with the common goal of preventing the spread of the disease. In addition to the pre-existing services such as medication dispensing and personalized care, community pharmacists must promote other types of services, for example, informing, advising, and educating the community, maintaining a stable supply of pharmaceuticals and health products, and screening of suspected cases. Conclusion. While remaining engaged in the coordinated efforts, community pharmacists should apply innovations in their practices to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.