Mental Health

Everyday many of us may feel held back by stress, low mood, over thinking, anger, poor concentration and lack of sleep. Pharmacists are ideally placed to spot people suffering from these complaints and offer them help, from healthy living advice to advice about their medicines or advising the patient to seek further medical help.

Poor mental health can affect both young and old, male or female, rich or poor and deserves our attention. This toolkit focusses on common mental health disorders and the role community pharmacy can play. These resources will enable your team to

Describe prevalence of poor mental health and at-risk populations;

Recognise the role for community pharmacy in prevention, detection and support for people with or at risk of poor mental health
Explain recommended interventions to support this population
Apply best practices in patient consultations/engagement

The mental health toolkit which we have created to help in your role has the following sections;

A set of self-guided learning slides covering the basics on mental health and opportunities for pharmacists and pharmacy teams to support patients
A huddle guide providing ideas for team activities to help consolidate learnings
Three ‘infographics’– useful to put up behind the counter or in a team area to keep the topic front of mind for staff
Four posters to display in the pharmacy to encourage open conversations about mental health