Scoping the potential of pharmacies

The enormous potential of pharmacies to improve the health of men has been mapped out in the new scoping study for the Forum's Men and Pharmacy project.

Prepared on the Forum's behalf by Dr Gillian Granville, the scoping paper, which marks the first stage of the project, sets out the research and policy context.

The information has been drawn together from a number of sources: government policy documents, academic data-bases, published and grey literature, discussions with key informants, websites, and case examples from practice. It focuses on community pharmacy and mainly covers activity in the UK.

MHF director of operations Stephen Sibbald says: 'the study is intended as a dynamic working document that stimulates discussion and refines our research questions. It will be updated and added to throughout the life of the project.'

The next phase of the project is the analysis of four focus groups (two with men and two with pharmacy teams) to be held before the end of 2007 which will inform the development of the practical pilot phase to be held in Mid Yorkshire in April 2008.

Stpehen added: 'We welcome feedback from anyone interested in this work. The final report is due in June 2008, which will offer an evidence based approach for enabling more men to access pharmacies to improve their health.'