Introduction. Osteoporosis and poor bone health impact a significant proportion of the Australian population. Yet over 60% of Australians have misconceptions about it and 50% don’t take their osteoporosis medications as prescribed. Various interventions have been done in the past to combat this increasingly prevalent condition with various degrees of efficacy. Implementation science approaches are used to reduce the gap in time between research and practice.
Aims. To describe the development and pilot implementation of community pharmacy screening for osteoporosis and the barriers and facilitators in its implementation.
Methods. Semi-structured interviews were completed with a convenience sample of pharmacy stakeholders including patients, pharmacists, and pharmacy staff. Community pharmacies were invited to implement the screening service via social media advertising and networks and training was provided. Community pharmacy staff and consumers were interviewed after the service. The implementation process was documented using the REAIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, maintenance) framework.
Results. An osteoporosis screening service was developed using stakeholder interviews. 25 community pharmacies were recruited and commenced a screening service. 251 pharmacy consumers (average of 10 people/pharmacy) were screened for osteoporosis during the study period (1 week in each pharmacy). Participants reported that osteoporosis was not a major disease that pharmacists often focused on, however, both patient and pharmacist participants felt that it is important and that community pharmacies are suited towards screening. Most pharmacists reported time, remuneration, and COVID were major barriers to implementation.
Discussion. Consulting stakeholders is an important part of developing new pharmacy services to ensure an intervention’s success. This study gathered insights into the current state of pharmacy knowledge and practice around osteoporosis and may assist future service development.