SSHP-led Video Project: Spreading the word about pharmacists caring for patients
Contributed by Angela Goodhart, Pharm.D. Candidate 2017, Katrina Mann, Pharm.D. Candidate 2017, Laura Nice, Pharm.D. Candidate 2018, and Courtney Wooten, Pharm.D. Candidate 2017
Northeast Ohio Medical University College of Pharmacy
How the idea started:
The inspiration for our project came from the realization that we as pharmacists and student pharmacists don’t always market ourselves well. Our patients won’t know to request access to pharmacist care until they fully understand that our value transcends counting by fives, and our legislators won’t pass laws to recognize us as providers until they are able to recognize the care we do provide. Even our family and friends aren't always sure what our role as pharmacists includes.
To this end, our SSHP made it our mission to inform and engage the general public in a discussion on what pharmacists contribute to patient care.
Goals:
Raise awareness about the value of pharmacists to the healthcare team and patient care.
Gain support for HR 592 and S 314, the Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act.
What we did:
But where to even start? Since we share a campus with a College of Medicine, we began by approaching practice based medical faculty. We scheduled meetings with them face to face to explain our project and purpose before asking if they'd be willing to star in our video. They were very supportive of our cause, agreeing to either be in our video or help us recruit others for it. This encouraged us to look beyond our campus. We reached out to clinicians we'd volunteered with and nurses who had expressed their appreciation for what we contribute to the healthcare team. But we were still missing a valuable perspective: patients!
We carefully considered how to approach patients in a HIPPA-abiding manner. This involved asking some of our family and friends who we knew had positive experiences with their pharmacists to share what made those experiences so great. We also recruited a few patients as they came in to a weekly wellness screening at a community pharmacy.
As we recruited our video's stars, we scheduled a time to record them responding to some short questions about their experiences with their pharmacists. We provided them with the questions in advance, so they could be prepared with their answers.
Once we had all the interviews completed, we went through more than an hour of footage to put together a cohesive message in a short video. We also recorded some basic facts and statistics about pharmaceutical care to use as transitions, as well as an introduction highlighting HR 592 and S 314. We then cut the footage and assembled our video with some rough video editing skills to create a five minute video with a powerful message. We worked with our school’s department of public relations department to get the video approved, posted, and promoted. Check out our video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V233Xuiznso!
What we encountered:
- People get nervous about being on camera and tend to be more candid when talking about their experiences off-camera.
- Scheduling can be challenging
- Cutting, editing, and putting together the final video can be overwhelming
Tips for the future:
Don't be afraid to start asking for support! If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.
Reach out to other departments. Being a smaller university, we didn’t have as many resources available to us as other Colleges of Pharmacy might. We're sure others have the means to create much more professional looking videos!
Sample Questions for providers and patients:
For providers:
- Describe how you work with a pharmacist in your practice. What does the pharmacist provide for your practice? (eg. Gaps filled, expertise)
- Why do you trust your pharmacist with ______________? (based on response to previous question)
- Tell me about a time you feel a pharmacist impacted care of one of your patients.
- Pharmacists are not recognized as healthcare providers under the Social Security Act. How would you support provider status?
- What qualities make a great pharmacist?
For patients:
- Describe what your pharmacist does for you.
- Why do you trust your pharmacist?
- Tell me about a time you feel your pharmacist impacted your health.
- Pharmacists are not recognized as healthcare providers under the Social Security Act. How would you support provider status?
- What qualities make a great pharmacist?
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