Understanding psychological engagement and flow in community pharmacy practice

Psychological engagement in work has been identified as a crucial predictor of peak performance and enhanced productivity. A theoretical framework for understanding engagement as the peak of a continuum including satisfaction, commitment, motivation, and flow describes the various states of psychological relationship that exists between individuals and their work/profession. Application of this theoretical framework and these constructs to the pharmacy profession has not been fully described previously.

To characterize, describe, and gain greater insight into engagement by pharmacists in community pharmacy practice.

A purposeful recruitment method was used to invite exemplary Canadian pharmacists who had won prestigious awards to participate in interviews exploring their engagement with their profession. A psychotherapeutic appreciative inquiry research method using techniques proposed by Kratochwill and Levin was used to guide data collection; data analysis was undertaken using the theoretical framework.

Thirteen award winning community pharmacists participated in this study. These exemplary pharmacists rarely described engagement and instead more frequently described flow in their practice. Common determinants of flow in community pharmacy described by participants included: i) autonomy; ii) altruism; iii) admiration; iv) agreement/acceptance; v) alignment; and vi) aspiration.

Engagement as conceptualized in management literature did not feature prominently for these award winning pharmacists. Further research is required to better understand how peak performance in community pharmacy practice manifests and is sustained.