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Survey of Australian and Canadian Community Pharmacists' Experiences With Patients at Risk of Suicide
Andrea L Murphy1, Claire L O'Reilly1, Randa Ataya1
1College of Pharmacy (Murphy, Ataya, Gardner), Department of Psychiatry (Murphy, Kutcher, Gardner), Department of Family Medicine (Burge), and School of Nursing (Martin-Misener), all at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (O'Reilly, Chen); Research Methods Unit, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax (Doucette); Centre for Mental Health Research, Research School of Population Health, College of Health and Medicine, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (Salvador-Carulla); Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia, Halifax (Himmelman); Brain & Mind Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney (Rosen); Illawarra Institute for Mental Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia (Rosen); Independent Senators Group, Senate of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (Kutcher). Dr. Kutcher was with IWK Health Centre, Dalhousie University, Halifax, at the time of this study.
Objective:
The study's objective was to examine Canadian and Australian community pharmacists' experiences with people at risk of suicide.
Methods:
A survey was developed and administered online. Countries were compared by Fisher's exact and t tests. Multivariable logistic-regression analysis was used to identify variables associated with preparedness to help someone in a suicidal crisis.
Results:
The survey was completed by 235 Canadian and 161 Australian pharmacists. Most (85%) interacted with someone at risk of suicide at least once, and 66% experienced voluntary patient disclosure of suicidal thoughts. More Australians than Canadians had mental health crisis training (p<0.001). Preparedness to help in a suicidal crisis was negatively associated with being Canadian, having a patient who died by suicide, lacking training and confidence, and permissive attitudes toward suicide.
Conclusions:
Several perceived barriers impede pharmacists' abilities to help patients who voluntarily disclose suicidal thoughts. Gatekeeper and related suicide prevention strategy training for community pharmacists is warranted.
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