New Webinar Prepares Pharmacists to Provide Reproductive Health Services and Referrals
Pharmacists play a key role in providing health care to patients. Their scope is currently expanding into women’s health, specifically in prescribing birth control. As more states pass legislation to allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control, we are preparing pharmacy staff members with the appropriate knowledge and tools to best assist their patients.
We hosted an exciting webinar, “Meeting Reproductive Health Needs at the Pharmacy” with Provide. Provide is a nonprofit organization with a goal to provide healthcare and social services to patients without bias or judgement. They understand the lack of care for patients experiencing an unintended pregnancy and seek to provide a comfortable environment for people to explore their options. This webinar shed light and helped to educate pharmacists, student pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians about family planning services including birth control access, emergency contraception, and abortion. The program included myths and facts about reproductive health, best practices to combat stigma, and how to connect patients with local resources.
Anna Pfaff and Dr. Sally Rafie led the discussion. Each touching on different subject material and bringing some diverse perspectives to the topic, Dr. Rafie as a pharmacist who also runs Birth Control Pharmacist and Anna as a patient educator who coordinates Provide’s Referrals Program. There are many barriers for different populations, further magnified during the COVID-19 pandemic and Title X restrictions, to obtain family planning services.
One very important objective of the program was preparing pharmacists and pharmacy teams to combat stigma surrounding these services. Pharmacy best practices were provided to address individual, environmental, and structural stigmas. The presenters raised awareness around these issues and shared new practical pharmacy communication guides that pharmacists and pharmacy team members can use in their everyday practices. As an example, Dr. Rafie and Monica Sliwa (a UCSD pharmacy student intern with Birth Control Pharmacist) performed a role play activity to show different approaches to assisting a patient find an emergency contraception method in the pharmacy. They also demonstrated the steps to refer patients for other services using online directories.
Fortunately, if you missed the webinar, the video recording and materials are available for on-demand home study online at https://birthcontrolpharmacist.com/referrals/. The course material is available to all, with pharmacists and pharmacy technicians having an opportunity to obtain Continuing Pharmacy Education credit. This material provides education to pharmacy staff members in reducing stigma in access to reproductive health services.
Participants provided feedback at the conclusion. Keep reading to see their positive reviews and gain a better idea of what to expect from the Newonline course:
“Though not having a place of practice due to being in my 4th year of pharmacy school, I appreciated having these materials that can be utilized in whatever area of practice I’m in. I am interested in a career in women’s health and know that these resources will be valuable to me when transitioning into my career.”
“I love the handout provided, and I learned more about abortion clinics. I feel so much more comfortable about discussing options with patients now.”
“I plan on promoting this initiative and educating my colleagues on reproductive health competencies so that patients in my practicing state will have more options for accessibility.”
About the Author
Samantha Thompson, PharmD Candidate is a pharmacy student in the Class of 2023 at University of California San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Samantha completed a summer internship with Birth Control Pharmacist.