Pharmacy Practice

To respect the data sovereignty of our partners, most of the project details are available to partners only. Please feel free to contact the UPROOT team should you have any questions. If you are meant to have access to any of these projects, please email the team at uproot.team@ubc.ca.

Comprehensive Resource for Healthy Medication Practices

The Health Services Centre (HCS) for a BC First Nation supports the community with primary and emergency care, public health programming and medications. The Centre identified a clear community for proper resources aimed at improving medication practices. Limited guidance and access to resources regarding medication practices can lead to technical and logistical concerns that can impact patient care if not appropriately addressed. To address this need, the HCS partnered with the Entry-to-Practice PharmD Program at the University of British Columbia to develop a Comprehensive Resource for Healthy Medication Practices (the Resource).

The goal of this Resource is to provide a comprehensive tool for the First Nation to improve the community’s culturally safe, effective and evidence-based management of medication ordering, storage, dispensing, education and disposal. These five categories were identified by the authors as encompassing the scope of the community’s expressed needs. The Resource has been designed to be easily accessible by staff both current and future, and specifically relevant to the needs of the First Nation and the Health Services Centre. An environmental scan and literature review were conducted, examining existing resources pertaining to culturally safe medication practices in Indigenous communities. This data was used to create a questionnaire to identify current procedures, community opinions and community suggestions pertaining to medication practices in the First Nation. Community engagement with members of the First Nation and staff at the Health Services Centre also took place through an in-person townhall and interviews. The project members developed each section of the resource based on interview and questionnaire data. The Resource was reviewed by university and community partners.

Community Partner(s)

Carolyn MacKinnon

Student(s)

Filip Zekic, E2P PharmD Student
Mojan Fazelipour, E2P PharmD Student
Jessie Li, E2P PharmD Student

Granting Agency/Partner(s)

UBC Community-University Engagement Support Fund

Partner Access

Building a Community-Owned Pharmacy for a BC First Nation

A BC First Nation has identified a need to increase access to culturally safe pharmacy services for the community. Currently, the Nation’s pharmacy needs are serviced by a singular pharmacy. As a profession, pharmacy is deeply rooted in a colonial and Eurocentric view of western values, evidence-based medicine, and a transactional approach to care provision. In response to the Truth and Reconciliation, UNDRIP, and In Plain Sight, self-determination and self-governance is an increasing priority for communities. As communities move towards development of their own Indigenous-owned and operated solutions, pharmacy can play an important role.

This project developed a report describing current pharmacy services and practices in the community and identifying opportunities for further development of a community-owned, Nation-based pharmacy.

Methodology: The report for this project was created based on a review of relevant literature and virtual interviews with community members and local healthcare professionals. An outline of the current landscape of pharmacies as well as options and considerations for the opening and operation of a Nation-owned pharmacy are explored.

Community Partner(s)

Glenda Phillips

Student(s)

Mel Tsai, E2P PharmD Student

Aya Al-Nuaimi, E2P PharmD Student

Granting Agency/Partner(s)

None

Partner Access

Improving Pharmacy Access with a BC First Nation Community Health Centre (CHC)

The responsibilities of a pharmacist are well established within a Western healthcare framework; however, a pharmacist’s role within Indigenous-led healthcare is unclear. Indigenous-led healthcare services are designed by the community for the community and can be tailored to address specific community needs. Rural and remote communities often face significant barriers to accessing care because of geographic distances or chronic healthcare staff shortages. Providing access to a variety of healthcare services directly within the community can help address these challenges. Indigenous control over healthcare delivery is essential to honouring self-determination, addressing health inequities, and ensuring culturally safe care.

This research is to investigate how to improve pharmacy access in a remote First Nations community by understanding patient and care provider perspectives on the importance of various pharmacy services at an individual and community level.