PHABRIC

Our Findings

Our project aimed to inform changes to current practice and provide future research recommendations to support the earlier diagnosis of colorectal cancer in community pharmacies. Our findings have been mapped onto these aims, and grouped accordingly:

  • As part of our workshops, participants created ordered lists of priority topic areas where practice changes could be made and future research should be directed. Practice guideline changes are included in our publicly available final report linked below.
  • The areas for future research and the identified topics of importance have been shown below, as prioritised by workshop participants. Within the themes, questions for researchers have been identified and listed.
  • Results from our qualitative analysis to provide a deeper understanding of these findings have been presented in an academic paper, also linked below. Further publications are listed on our Information page.
Journal Paper
NIHR Report

Areas for Future Research

1

Pharmacist role, environment, and autonomy

Creating a safe environment more suitable for conversations about colorectal cancer and screening. Providing support and information to patients and conducting clinical assessments.

  • What are the ways the pharmacy environment can be altered to help facilitate discussions about colorectal cancer symptoms?
  • What impact does a familial relationship with customers have on discussing colorectal cancer symptoms?
  • What are the competing priorities for community pharmacy staff’s time, and how can expanded services be best integrated within these?
  • In larger chain pharmacies, what impact does the broader company mission have on the ability for community pharmacies to offer expanded services which may not contribute to generating revenue?

2

Raising awareness and public health campaigns

Local and national campaigns raising awareness about colorectal cancer and role of the pharmacy. Advertisement of expanded pharmacy services.

  • What are the most effective ways to raise awareness of expanded community pharmacy services?
    • How can the changes made to the physical space of a community pharmacy help facilitate this?
  • How can pharmacy specific services be incorporated into existing public health campaigns for cancer awareness?
  • What is the important information to convey to the public about expanded pharmacy services?

3

Improving communication and collaboration between healthcare professionals

Integrating pharmacy staff and services better with broader healthcare providers and improving communication with GPs and hospitals. Incorporating digital tools to help with communication and service provision from the pharmacy. 

  • Can existing digital tools used to communicate between community pharmacies and healthcare professionals be expanded to include follow up on referrals?
    • What is the interoperability of these existing digital systems?
    • How prevalent are these communication platforms, and what prevents their wider use?
    • What scope is there to create new digital platforms for communication?
  • How can we best enable closer working relationships and encourage better communication between community pharmacies and other healthcare professionals?

4

Targeting those at risk and providing kits

Specific interventions targeted at those at higher risk and/or are symptomatic, and providing test kits directly from the pharmacy. 

  • How can the process, from first providing a FIT kit through to sharing the results, be simplified?
  • How can community pharmacies best identify and target individuals at risk of colorectal cancer?
    • How would using customer purchasing data impact on individual’s trust and use of other pharmacy services?
    • How could privacy concerns be addressed if using customer purchasing data in this way?
  • What is the best way to initiate conversations with pharmacy customers experiencing red-flag symptoms about their potential cancer risk?

5

Support, training, education for pharmacists

Investing more in the pharmacist role by providing education, incentives, and support for staff. Supplying tools and training alongside an increased use of technology to support screening. 

  • How can we better support community pharmacy staff to incorporate expanded services into their existing workload?
    • What materials or resources are needed in order to streamline the screening process?
  • How can financial incentives be targeted to better enable longer-term provision of expanded pharmacy services?
  • What training materials or courses will best help pharmacy staff set up and implement expanded services?
  • How can we better utilise technology in providing screening services within community pharmacies?

6

Improving inclusion and accessibility for underserved communities

Recognising impact of financial barriers to accessing test kits, the legacy of Covid-19, and how discussions of colorectal cancer symptoms are affected by cultural norms. 

  • In what ways can community pharmacies accommodate the needs of underserved communities while offering expanded services?
    • What, if any, is the impact on individual’s trust by promoting paid-for testing kits within economically disadvantaged communities?
  • What has the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic been on the ways in which people view and utilise pharmacy services?
    • What can be done to encourage increased use of pharmacy services within communities feeling disillusioned from the healthcare system?
  • Do different cultural norms impact on the ways that community pharmacy staff can talk about colorectal cancer symptoms?
    • In what ways can these considerations be incorporated into training materials and promotional messages provided to community pharmacy staff?