Pharmacists in public health: It's a good start!

Abstract

Accreditation standards implemented in July 2007 require colleges and schools of pharmacy to train student pharmacists to provide public health services.1 Moreover, population-based public health curricula for all health care professionals is encouraged in the Clinical Prevention and Population Health Curriculum Framework developed by the Healthy People Curriculum Task Force in January 2008.2 Practicing pharmacists are also assuming traditional public health roles such as vaccination and screening. However, pharmacists’ public health activities are much more diverse than expected, and this issue of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association (JAPhA) provides a sample of pharmacist-led public health initiatives. The public health agenda is dynamic and responds to changing population needs. Public health began at the turn of the 20th century, primarily to fight epidemics and prevent the spread of disease. Today, public health efforts still focus on responding to community health threats, although those threats are different today than at the turn of the 20th century.3 Public health has long been thought of as government programs and services for the disadvantaged, but it is more encompassing than this limited definition. The Institute of Medicine defines public health as “fulfilling society’s interest in assuring conditions in which people can be healthy.”4 This definition requires that pharmacists take a population-based focus to prevent disease and improve overall health with the goal of achieving long and productive lives. Healthy People 2020, which was being finalized at the time of this writing, identifies several health goals for the United States, such as attaining highquality, longer lives free of preventable health threats and conditions, achieving health equity, creating environments that promote good health, and promoting quality of life across all life stages.5 Healthy People 2020 explicitly recognizes that pharmacists have direct access to patients and play an important role in prevention and appropriate treatment. Pharmacists, who seek to ensure appropriate medication use, can assist in achieving these national health goals.