Community Pharmacist-Led Intervention for Victims of Domestic Abuse, Suicidal Ideation

September 6, 2024

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Researchers analyzed a co-developed pharmacy-based intervention for individuals who have experienced domestic abuse or suicidal ideation.

With a plethora of barriers preventing individuals from receiving assistance for domestic abuse (DA) and suicidal ideation (SI), researchers found that a community pharmacy-based intervention can weaken those barriers and offer a safe option for patients seeking help. In what authors of the study call “lifeguard pharmacy” services, participants found satisfaction within a pharmacy-based intervention because of its ability to offer hope, accessibility, and discretion.

“Numerous practical barriers to accessing DA and SI support services have been identified including a perceived lack of services for lower-level problems that are not immediately life-threatening, people not knowing which support services are available, long waiting times for services such as general practitioners (GPs) and psychological therapies, and fewer support services in rural areas, where a lack of available public transport may be a barrier to access,” wrote authors of the study published in the International Journal of Pharmacy Practice.¹

Key Takeaways

Researchers analyzed a co-developed pharmacy-based intervention for individuals with lived experiences of domestic abuse or suicidal ideation.
Results showed that—in collaboration with patients, pharmacists, and other health care experts—domestic abuse and suicidal ideation support can be facilitated within a pharmacy setting.
This specific intervention design could be especially useful for patients living through domestic abuse and suicidal ideation to receive timely support compared with other assistance resources.

While the overall infrastructure for DA and SI services is lacking, there are also several psychological barriers that discourage individuals seeking help. Both experiences have historically been met by social stigmas, with victims of DA often showing fear when it comes to seeking help and patients with SI often experiencing isolation and an inability to seek help.

Furthermore, the timing of when individuals receive support for DA and SI is especially important. “Suicidal ideation can escalate significantly in a short period of time and therefore people may need immediate support. Victims/survivors of DA often live under high levels of isolation, surveillance, and control by their abuser, with limited opportunities to seek help, and they therefore need help to be readily available,” they wrote.¹

Researchers explored ideas for what study participants considered a "lifeguard pharmacy." | image credit: javiindy / stock.adobe.com

Between psychological and practical barriers, as well as the significance of timeliness, researchers looked to pharmacies as a potential option for DA and SI support services.

They gathered 36 individuals in Lincolnshire, England, to participate in focus groups, interviews, and workshops regarding DA or SI. Study participants included individuals with lived DA or SI experiences, or health care professionals with previous experience working in DA or SI support service programs or pharmacies.

With the goal of developing a community pharmacy response service for individuals experiencing DA or SI, researchers used the interview, focus group, and workshop events to curate their pharmacy-based intervention. To assist in their development of these services, researchers analyzed common themes throughout each event and presented their findings.

Researchers also focused on the idea of a co-development process to better assist in the creation of a pharmacy-based intervention. The co-development is shared by both individuals experiencing DA or SI, as well as pharmacy and health care professionals. The process was designed to analyze opinions and ideas of both the patient and provider to better assist in the facilitation of the intended service.

With focus groups, workshops, and interviews referred to as “co-development events,” a total of 20 participants with lived DA or SI experience, 6 representatives from the key referral organizations, and 10 pharmacy staff members participated in at least 1 event.¹

“Participants supported the development of this new service and considered community pharmacies to be an ideal setting. They thought of the service as a lifeline that would offer hope. Under this main concept of hope, 5 main themes were identified: safety, empathy, empowerment, equity, and discretion,” wrote the authors.

Beyond participants’ overall support of a pharmacy-based intervention, they also collaborated on the program’s official title as the “Lifeguard Pharmacy,” with the tagline “Bringing Hope to Life.” Speaking to the program’s openness and accessibility, one participant said, “You want to inspire that hope and positivity to that person that you want to come in.”¹

Furthermore, representatives from referral organizations and pharmacy staff members assisted in offering further opinions and developing program components to more easily adapt on a universal scale. While some participants did flag concerns—such as difficulty with discretion in a pharmacy setting and overworked or unavailable pharmacy staff members—researchers’ results confirmed the possibility for the development of a pharmacy-based intervention to appropriately assist people experiencing DA or SI.

Domestic violence and suicidal thoughts or actions are significantly prominent across the world. In the US alone, 24 people experience some type of DA every minute, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.² Regarding SI in the US, in 2022, there were an estimated 1.6 million suicide attempts.³

Researchers agree that the lack of clinical resources to assist these patients is an issue, but with the help of pharmacy services and employees, DA and SI support can be much more accessible.

“The proposed ‘Lifeguard Pharmacy’ service is unique in including both DA support and suicide prevention in a combined pharmacy service. Overall, the study findings indicate that the co-developed, discreet, and human-centered nature of this service may facilitate more timely and tailored help-seeking among those experiencing DA or SI,” concluded the authors.¹

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References

1. Barcelos AM, Latham-Green T, Barnes R, et al. Lifeguard pharmacy: The co-development of a new community pharmacy response service for people in danger from domestic abuse or suicidal ideation. Int J Pharm Pract. Published online September 4, 2024. doi:10.1093/ijpp/riae043

2. Domestic violence statistics. National Domestic Violence Hotline. Accessed September 6, 2024. https://www.thehotline.org/stakeholders/domestic-violence-statistics/

3. Suicide statistics. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Published May 11, 2024. Accessed September 6, 2024. https://afsp.org/suicide-statistics/