- Title
- Exploring the role of pharmacists in the primary care management of inflammatory bowel disease
- Creator
- Prasad, Sharmila Sumeeta
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2022
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Multidisciplinary care (MDC) is essential to chronic disease management and optimal patient outcomes. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic condition with a high burden of disease with increased incidences, health care costs and a poor quality of life. As a result, IBD care remains suboptimal and MDC underutilised in healthcare management of people living with IBD. This thesis by publication explores and aims to understand the facets of primary care management of IBD and how pharmacists as primary healthcare professionals can be better utilised to optimise IBD care in an aim to improve the care received by people with IBD. The thesis explores different domains of IBD management: identifying gaps in care, establishing current IBD knowledge and confidence among pharmacists, eliciting potential opportunities for primary care pharmacists and understanding the needs and perceptions of people living with IBD towards healthcare professionals. The first study in this body of work identified the roles of healthcare professionals in the management of chronic gastrointestinal diseases and highlighted the gap in IBD care, whereby IBD is predominantly managed by gastroenterologists with very little involvement of other healthcare professionals, especially in primary care settings. As a result, the second study identified potential roles for primary care health professionals, including pharmacists, to contribute to IBD management. Pharmacists are readily accessible healthcare professionals with proven skills and expertise in chronic disease management; especially disease with high burden such as asthma and Type 2 diabetes. Therefore, as part of the primary healthcare professionals, pharmacists can play a proactive role in optimising IBD care. People with IBD have complex needs and require IBD-specific expertise in managing their disease. Thus, the third and fourth studies in this thesis explored knowledge and confidence among pharmacists when managing people with IBD and identified opportunities for improvement. These studies are the first of their kind to address this knowledge gap and could be used to inform development of appropriate training and educational resources for pharmacists to develop the expertise and skills essential in managing IBD. The final study reflects the patient perspective of what people living with IBD need from healthcare professionals who are involved in managing their IBD. It reinforces that some healthcare professionals including pharmacists, currently do not have adequate knowledge or IBD-specific expertise to optimise IBD care. In conclusion, this thesis synthesises new data and five published papers that support the need for timely access to specialised IBD care for people living with IBD. It provides an insight into the existing IBD knowledge of primary care pharmacists and how the IBD knowledge gap can be optimised. Furthermore, it provides patient perspectives that are currently lacking in key areas of IBD management along with relevant data to guide future large scale research and interventions.
- Subject
- inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); primary care; healthcare professionals; multidisciplinary; pharmacists; thesis by publication
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1503114
- Identifier
- uon:55295
- Rights
- Copyright 2022 Sharmila Sumeeta Prasad
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 4 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 613 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |