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PSYCHIATRY

Attitudes of Pharmacists Toward Mental Illness and Providing Pharmaceutical Care to the Mentally Ill

Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice, McWhorter School of Pharmacy, Samford University, Birmingham, AL 35229-7027

Amber R Burton, PharmD

Pharmacist, University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, Birmingham

Thomas W Woolley, MS PhD

Professor of Statistics, School of Business, Samford University

Reprints: Dr. Cates, McWhorter School of Pharmacy, Samford University, 800 Lakeshore Dr., Birmingham, AL 35229-7027, fax 205/726-2669, mecates{at}samford.edu

BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined the attitudes of pharmacists toward mental illness.

OBJECTIVE: To study the attitudes of Alabama pharmacists toward both mental illness and the providing of pharmaceutical care to mentally ill patients.

METHODS: The survey used in this project was composed of 3 sections. Section 1 collected demographic information, section 2 asked 11 Likert-type questions concerning attitudes toward mental illness, and section 3 asked about attitudes toward providing pharmaceutical care to mentally ill patients. The surveys were distributed to pharmacists attending 3 school-sponsored continuing education programs.

RESULTS: One hundred eighty-seven pharmacists participated in the survey. The vast majority (>90%) of participants disagreed or strongly disagreed with statements that mentally ill patients are easily recognizable, unintelligent, and do not care how they look. Approximately 30-50% of participants expressed being "more" or "much more" confident, comfortable, interested, and likely to perform pharmaceutical care activities for mentally ill patients relative to medically ill patients, while only approximately 5-20% of participants expressed being "less" or "much less" so. Several demographic factors, including gender, age, and years in practice, were associated with attitudes toward providing pharmaceutical care to mentally ill patients.

CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacists expressed generally positive attitudes toward both mental illness and the providing of pharmaceutical care to mentally ill patients.

Key Words: mental illness, pharmaceutical care

Published Online, June 21, 2005. www.theannals.com, DOI 10.1345/aph.1G009

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