The role of a residential aged care pharmacist: Findings from a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the feasibility of integrating a residential care pharmacist and describe the activities they subsequently undertake in an established residential aged care facility. METHODS: A residential care pharmacist was integrated part-time (15 hours per week) into a 104-bed residential aged care facility in the Australian Capital Territory, for 6 months. The pharmacist documented all activities performed during the study period. RESULTS: The residential care pharmacist documented 335.3 hours performing 284 activities. The two broad classes of activities were as follows: (1) organisation-oriented, which were system-level interventions to improve medication safety, and (2) resident-oriented, which were clinical interventions conducted at the individual level. The activities most frequently performed were pharmaceutical opinion, quality improvement and comprehensive medication review. The stakeholder and organisational demand for these activities indicated feasibility for the role. CONCLUSION: Pharmacists working collaboratively as part of a multidisciplinary aged care team can perform a range of clinically and operationally beneficial activities.

Pharmacist-led influenza vaccination services in residential aged care homes: A pilot study.

OBJECTIVES: The feasibility of pharmacist-led influenza vaccination services in residential aged care homes has not previously been studied. The primary objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the feasibility of this service. The secondary objective was to assess the effect of the service on employee vaccination rates. METHODS: An in-house pharmacist-led vaccination service was implemented at a single site in 2017. De-identified employee influenza vaccination records at this site for 2016 and 2017 were compared to assess the change in vaccination rate. RESULTS: The residential care pharmacist administered 37% of all influenza vaccinations to employees (n = 78) in 2017. Between 2016 and 2017, there was a significant improvement in the employee vaccination rate at the site (46.5% vs 69.2%, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible for pharmacists to administer influenza vaccinations to employees in residential aged care. The flexibility of an in-house pharmacist improves accessibility and can therefore promote uptake of influenza vaccination by employees.