Preparing pharmacists for disaster management and practice: A participatory scoping review

Background

Pharmacists are the third largest healthcare professional group globally and are often frontline responders to public health needs in emergencies. The objective of this scoping review was to explore the breadth of evidence relating to training and education activities to prepare pharmacists or pharmacy students for humanitarian crisis situations.

Method

In collaboration with an expert panel, a search strategy was developed to identify literature pertaining to 1) participants - pharmacists/pharmacy students, 2) concept – education/training and 3) context – disaster planning/emergency preparedness. We searched Ovid MEDLINE, Elsevier Scopus, Ovid EMBASE, Informit, Web of Science core collection and EBSCO CINAHL databases and reviewed grey literature to identify material relevant to the research question. The expert panel informed the interpretation and implications of findings.

Results

A total of 32 articles met the inclusion criteria and underwent data extraction and content analysis using NVivo™ software. A range of diverse and innovative training interventions were described by researchers and practitioners from a variety of backgrounds. Themes relating to training objectives, content, delivery methods and evaluation were identified.

Implications

More mainstream, standardised training resources are needed to enable pharmacists to fulfil their potential roles in disaster management and response. In addition to the pandemic, the impacts of climate change (such as extreme weather events) and global conflicts have increased over recent years. Pharmacists need to be systematically trained to deal with such events, and curriculum should reflect this.