The roles of French community pharmacists in palliative home care

Abstract

Background: The World Health Organization identifies pharmacists as a key resource in palliative care. However, the roles of these professionals in end-of-life care at home remain poorly understood, and community pharmacists themselves sometimes struggle to recognize their true role in this care. The aim of our study was to analyze community pharmacists’ representations of their roles in palliative care at home in France. Methods: The methodology was qualitative and based on semi-structured interviews with community pharmacists (n = 26). The analysis of the interviews was carried out using a qualitative content approach with thematic and lexical analysis. Results: Three main elements of the community pharmacist’s role were identified: drug expertise, care management, and psychosocial support for patients and their families. Conclusions: This study highlights a wide variety of roles adopted by French community pharmacists in palliative care at home. Some of these roles, which are in line with WHO recommendations on palliative care, have been little described to date. These roles of community pharmacists in home-based palliative care could be better recognized, and the players better integrated into end-of-life care systems at home, in order to improve such care. Trial registration: This work was carried out within the framework of a call for projects from the Fondation de France and has received the approval of the University Clermont Auvergne Research Ethics Committee (no. IRB00011540-2021-60).