Introduction:
Recent years have seen significant growth in the number of oral anti-cancer medicines. These medicines are increasingly being dispensed and used in the community setting. Community pharmacists are ideally positioned to contribute to the safe and optimal use of oral anti-cancer medicines. Community pharmacists have not traditionally been involved in the provision of anti-cancer treatment and therefore have not previously been a key audience for eviQ1 and eviQ Education2.
Aims:
To develop tailored resources and engage with community pharmacists, to increase their awareness of the complexities of oral anti-cancer medicines, empowering them to deliver safe and optimal patient care.
Methods:
A landscape analysis was completed, demonstrating a lack of comprehensive education resources on anti-cancer medicines for community pharmacists. Following this, eviQ and eviQ Education have focused on developing education resources and conducting activities to address this gap. Fostering relationships with key community pharmacy stakeholders has also been a priority.
Results:
The free online course ‘Oral anti-cancer drugs in community pharmacy’3 was developed with key pharmacy stakeholder collaboration. It is CPD accredited and hosted by peak pharmacy professional bodies The Pharmacy Guild of Australia and Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, and community pharmacy retail group Chemist Warehouse.
eviQ fact sheets designed specifically for community pharmacists on oral anti-cancer treatments4,5 were also developed.
eviQ pharmacists provide annual lectures and workshops to pharmacy students at the University of Technology Sydney and Sydney University, reaching ~160 students annually.
eviQ pharmacists provide annual education sessions for the Chemist Warehouse retail group, reaching ~3400 pharmacy interns and pharmacists annually.
Conclusion:
As the national provider of evidence-based cancer treatment information and education, eviQ and eviQ Education are uniquely placed to support community pharmacists to ensure safe and optimal use of oral anti-cancer medicines. Initial successes indicate engagement activities could be expanded to reach more Australian community pharmacists.