Oral health educational interventions for pharmacists and pharmacy staff: A scoping review

Oral diseases are a significant public health issue globally, however timely access to healthcare can assist in reducing this disease burden. Pharmacists and pharmacy staff are increasingly being recognised as a valuable health service resource, especially in rural-remote areas where access to dental services is limited. Access to oral health training is a challenge that has been identified to enable pharmacists and staff to integrate oral healthcare into their routine practice.

To identify and examine the characteristics of existing oral health education interventions for pharmacy staff including evaluation outcomes of the identified interventions.

Medline, Embase and CINAHL databases were searched. Citation searching and a structured grey literature search was performed using search engine Google, OAIster, BASE, dental and pharmacy organization websites. The review method was informed by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (the PRISMA-ScR). Studies were eligible if they described an educational intervention focused on oral health for pharmacists or pharmacy staff, in any setting, and reported characteristics, content, delivery, or evaluation outcomes.

Ten oral health educational interventions for pharmacists and pharmacy staff were identified. The most common topics covered were general oral health promotion and management of common oral presentations in pharmacies. Most interventions had a single delivery format, such as a standalone online module or printed resource, rather than a suite of complementary materials combining multiple formats. Four were accredited as continuing professional development. Three identified interventions required membership to professional organisations. One resource had published literature on an evaluation process which reported that participants considered the content acceptable, relevant, and feasible to incorporate into pharmacy practice; however, it did not measure changes in knowledge, attitudes, confidence, or practice quantitatively.

There are very limited publicly accessible oral health educational interventions for pharmacy staff, and little evidence on their impact including KAP (Knowledge Attitudes and Practices), confidence, feasibility and acceptability. Addressing these gaps could support pharmacists to play a greater role in meeting oral health needs, particularly in underserved areas.