Community pharmacy interventions to improve antibiotic stewardship and implications for pharmacy education: A narrative overview.

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic resistance is one of the world's most pressing public health problems, resulting in over 23,000 deaths per year. One of the main contributing factors to antimicrobial resistance is antibiotic misuse and overuse. Community pharmacists can play a role in reducing antibiotic resistance, since they are one of the most accessible healthcare professionals.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to describe community pharmacy interventions and strategies to reduce antibiotic misuse and overuse and to discuss the implications for pharmacy training.

METHODS: A narrative overview strategy was employed to identify papers on antibiotic stewardship and the role of the community pharmacist. Our review examined potential stewardship strategies and interventions within community pharmacy practice that provide opportunities for pharmacists to engage or lead in the reduction of antimicrobial resistance.

RESULTS: We describe five promising community pharmacist-led intervention strategies: Collaborative Practice Agreements (CPAs), point-of-care (POC) testing, patient consultations, academic detailing and serving as an advocate for patients and other healthcare providers CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights topics that may warrant increased attention in pharmacy school curricula. Pharmacy schools may want to consider modifying their curricula to address the shifts in practice of the community pharmacist - emphasizing the expanded role of the pharmacist in patient care and public health issues such as outpatient antibiotic stewardship.