Adapting a community pharmacy intervention to improve medication safety

Area of Science:

• Implementation Science
• Pharmacy Practice
• Public Health Interventions

Background:

• Community pharmacies are vital for addressing over-the-counter (OTC) medication safety challenges.
• Many effective interventions remain localized, limiting large-scale patient care improvements.
• Scaling interventions is difficult due to unique pharmacy needs and layouts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report techniques for adapting community pharmacy interventions to diverse health system pharmacy sites.
• To identify strategies for gathering stakeholder feedback on intervention adaptations.
• To develop materials for independent implementation and sustainment by pharmacy champions.

Main Methods:

• The Senior Safe intervention was developed and tested using the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment (EPIS) framework.
• Adaptation involved pilot testing and a randomized controlled trial.
• Feedback was gathered from pharmacy staff, older adults, and a research advisory group.

Main Results:

• The Senior Safe intervention was successfully adapted and finalized.
• An implementation package was created for integration across 63 Aurora Pharmacy sites.
• The study demonstrated the feasibility of refining interventions for broader adoption.

Conclusions:

• Refining and adapting community pharmacy interventions is feasible and supported by staff.
• Successful, sustainable interventions require dedicated time, resources, and funding.
• This work provides a model for scaling pharmacy-based patient safety initiatives.