RCT Progress Update
Our participating pharmacies in all four regions have now completed service delivery. The Team sincerely thanks, and congratulates, all of our pharmacies for their efforts in supporting this research, people living with severe and persistent mental illness, and their wider communities. The Research Team submitted the report to the Department of Health and Aged Care in December 2022 for consideration by the Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC). If you want to know more, please contact the team at pharmibridge@griffith.edu.au.
Peer-reviewed publications
2023
Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice: Medication-related problems identified by community pharmacists: a descriptive case study of two Australian populations
Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy: Refining a taxonomy of goals planned between mental health consumers and community pharmacists
Health Expectations: Experiences of goal planning in Australian community pharmacy settings for people experiencing mental illness: A qualitative study
Contemporary Clinical Trials: Implementing a randomised controlled trial through community pharmacies to support people living with severe and persistent mental illness: Lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology: Mental Health First Aid crisis role-plays between pharmacists and simulated patients with lived experience: a thematic analysis of debrief
International Journal of Social Psychiatry: Psychological distress in community-dwelling individuals living with severe and persistent mental illness
Journal of American Pharmacists Association: Evaluation of a training program to support the implementation of a community pharmacist-led support service for people living with severe and persistent mental illness
2022
Frontiers in Psychiatry: Goal planning in mental health service delivery: a systematic integrative review
International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction: Confirmatory factor analysis of the Kessler-6 Psychological Distress (K6) scale in a community sample of people living with severe and persistent mental illness: a bifactor model
BMC Psychiatry: Psychotropic medication use in people living with severe and persistent mental illness in the Australian community: a cross-sectional study
Health Education Journal: A training programme for community pharmacists to support people living with severe and persistent mental illness: intervention mapping in the context of a pandemic
The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry: Pharmacist-led interventions for people living with severe and persistent mental illness: A systematic review
2021 - 2020
BMJ Open: Exploring goal planning in mental health service delivery: a systematic review protocol
Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology: A scoping review of pharmacy participation in dental and oral health care
JBI Evidence Synthesis: Pharmacy participation in dental and oral healthcare: a scoping review protocol
BMJ Open: Bridging the gap between physical and mental illness in community pharmacy (PharMIbridge): protocol for an Australian cluster randomised controlled trial
BMJ Open: Pharmacists’ roles in supporting people living with severe and persistent mental illness: a systematic review protocol
Presentations
FIP Seville 2022: Implementing a cluster-RCT of a community pharmacist-led intervention to support consumers living with severe and persistent mental illness: bridging the gap between physical and mental illness (PharMIbridge) [Poster – Joint-first prize]
PSA 22: Evaluation of a training package to support the implementation of a pharmacist-led support service (PharMIbridge) for people living with severe and persistent mental illness
ISPW 2022: Bridging the gap between physical and mental illness in community pharmacy (PharMIbridge): Implementation of a cluster-RCT during the COVID-19 pandemic (Dr O’Reilly’s presentation at 36:41)
Equally Well Symposium 2022: Delivery of a co-designed pharmacist-led service to support physical and mental health
MHS conference 2021: Designing a Pharmacist-Led Service to Support Physical and Mental Health: A RCT Protocol
Research News
AJP Making inroads in mental health awareness
Whether it’s simply asking, “Are you ok?”, making a referral, or optimising therapy, pharmacists can be the custodians of their patients’ mental wellbeing.
According to the National Health Survey, one in five (20%) Australians aged 16-85 have a mental health condition. During their lifetime, almost half (46%) of all Australians will experience a mental disorder.
Among the most common mental illnesses in Australia are anxiety, depression and substance abuse.
PSA Northern Sydney training
PharMIbridge RCT training for pharmacists in Northern Sydney.
Training for pharmacists in Northern Sydney involved in the 'Bridging the Gap between Physical and Mental Illness in Community Pharmacy' (PharMIbridge) randomised control trial (RCT) will be held in Northern Sydney on 24-25 February 2021.
PSA Regional Victoria training
PharMIbridge RCT training for pharmacists in regional Victoria
Training for regional Victorian pharmacists involved in the 'Bridging the Gap between Physical and Mental Illness in Community Pharmacy' (PharMIbridge) randomised control trial (RCT) will be held in Melbourne on 8th & 9th February 2021.
PharMIbridge RCT training underway
Pharmacists in northern Sydney involved in the 'Bridging the Gap between Physical and Mental Illness in Community Pharmacy' (PharMIbridge) randomised control trial (RCT) commenced training today.
The trial, which was funded through the Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement aims to enhance the way community pharmacists support people living with severe and persistent mental illness.
$5m to help community pharmacies
$5M to help community pharmacies support people with mental illnesses
Griffith University has partnered with The University of Sydney, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia in a research project aimed at enhancing the way pharmacies work with and assist people with mental illnesses.
Announced by the Minister for Health, the Hon Greg Hunt, the project is part of the pharmacy trial program funded by the Australian Government Department of Health under the Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement.
$5m to help community pharmacies
$5m to help community pharmacies support people with mental illnesses
The University of Sydney has partnered with Griffith University, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia to enhance the way pharmacies work with people with mental illnesses.
The new research project is aimed at enhancing the way pharmacies work with and assist people with mental illnesses.
ADMA E-Bulletin: PharMIbridge RCT
The Bridging the Gap between Physical and Mental Illness in Community Pharmacy (PharMIbridge) Randomised Controlled Trial.
General overview of service and the main components of the service:
Severe and Persistent Mental Illness (SPMI) refers to any mental illness that has a continuous and significant effect on a person’s daily life, such as schizophrenia, severe and recurrent depression, and bipolar disorder. In Australia, there are an estimated 9,000 premature deaths annually amongst people living with SPMI.
AJP Mental health bridging the gap
A key pharmacy mental health trial funded under the 6CPA is set to commence shortly The Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, Griffith University and the University of Sydney have announced that the 'Bridging the Gap between Physical and Mental Illness in Community Pharmacy' (PharMIbridge) trial is set to commence in a few months.
PharMIbridge on track
The 'Bridging the Gap between Physical and Mental Illness in Community Pharmacy' (PharMIbridge) trial is set to begin in the coming months, the project’s stakeholders announced yesterday.
PharMIbridge on track
The 'Bridging the Gap between Physical and Mental Illness in Community Pharmacy' (PharMIbridge) trial is set to begin in a few months.
The research project which aims at enhancing the way pharmacies work with and assist people with mental illnesses is co-led by pharmacy and mental health researchers Professor Amanda Wheeler from Griffith University and Dr Claire O’Reilly from The University of Sydney.
AJP Solidifying the evidence base
It’s been a long time coming, but the 6CPA’s mental health pharmacy trial is now getting off the ground at a key time for Australians with mental illnesses
One of the last Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement’s pharmacy trial programs, the 'Bridging the Gap between Physical and Mental Illness in Community Pharmacy' (PharMIbridge) research project, is now looking for participating pharmacies from four regions. The project proposes an intervention into how community pharmacies in Australia currently work with and support people with mental illnesses.
AJP hunt: new trial, shorter payment times
Health Minister solidifies support for the community pharmacy, announcing new $5 million mental health trial program, reduced PBS payment times and guaranteed AHI rates at APP2019.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has reaffirmed his support for the community pharmacy, announcing several initiatives at APP2019 conference at the Gold Coast on Thursday.
research news
- PSA Northern Sydney training
- Pharmacy Daily PharMIbridge RCT training underway
- $5m to help community pharmacies support people with mental illnesses - Griffith University 5/5/20
- $5m to help community pharmacies support people with mental illnesses - Sydney University 5/5/20
- ADMA E-Bulletin July 2020
- AJP article – Mental Health: Bridging the Gap
- Pharmacy Daily – PharMIbridge on track
- Retail Pharmacy – Mental Health Pharmacy Trial set to start soon