Pharmacy Services in Behavioral Health

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of community pharmacists, who are the most accessible healthcare professionals and can provide evaluation of medication adherence, patient counseling, insurance assessments, and mental health screenings with referral to mental health providers. Education in schools and colleges of pharmacy has focused on decreasing pharmacist stigma and negative images of people with mental disorders and increasing the comfort level of the pharmacist for interacting with patients through the use of motivational interviewing and shared decision-making. Pharmacists are uniquely positioned to fill the gap in available mental health providers, both in the community pharmacy and clinical practice setting.