Pharmaceutical Care Services in Community Health

Pharmaceutical care in community health encompasses a patient-centred approach to optimise medication use, enhance therapeutic outcomes and support public health goals outside of hospital settings. Community pharmacists serve as accessible healthcare professionals, offering a spectrum of services that range from medication review and chronic disease management to health promotion, screening and immunisation. These services are integral to value-based care models, in which pharmacists collaborate with physicians and other providers to prevent medication errors, reduce hospital admissions and empower patients through education and counselling. Technological advances—such as telepharmacy platforms, digital adherence tools and electronic health records—have further extended the reach of community pharmacy, enabling remote consultations and monitoring for patients in underserved or rural areas. Implementation research has highlighted the importance of workflow integration, staff training and alignment with public health priorities to ensure sustainable delivery. Globally, community pharmacy interventions have demonstrated effectiveness in smoking cessation, weight management and glycaemic control, illustrating the profession’s capacity to address both communicable and non-communicable disease burdens. As health systems confront workforce shortages and rising multimorbidity, community pharmaceutical care services stand poised to bridge gaps in primary care, promote preventive strategies and reinforce the continuity of care.

Research from Nature Portfolio

No recent Nature Portfolio content available.

Pharmaceutical Care Services in Community Health publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in pharmaceutical care services in community health across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Pharmaceutical care: A patient-centred practice in which pharmacists take responsibility for a patient’s medication-related needs to achieve defined health outcomes.

Telepharmacy: The provision of pharmaceutical care and dispensing services through telecommunications to patients at a distance.

Medication adherence: The extent to which a patient’s medication-taking behaviour corresponds with agreed recommendations from a healthcare provider.

Value-based care: A healthcare delivery model in which providers are reimbursed based on patient health outcomes rather than the volume of services rendered.

Chronic disease management: A collaborative approach to care that involves monitoring and supporting patients with long-term conditions to optimise treatment and prevent complications.

References

1. Adoption of telepharmacy among pharmacists, physicians, and nurses at Hawassa City Public Hospitals, Ethiopia. PLOS Digital Health (2024).
2. Public health in community pharmacy: A systematic review of pharmacist and consumer views. BMC Public Health (2011).
3. Evaluation of Frequency of Encounters With Primary Care Physicians vs Visits to Community Pharmacies Among Medicare Beneficiaries. JAMA Network Open (2020).
4. Community pharmacy-delivered interventions for public health priorities: a systematic review of interventions for alcohol reduction, smoking cessation and weight management, including meta-analysis for smoking cessation. BMJ Open (2016).
5. Community-Based Pharmacy Practice Innovation and the Role of the Community-Based Pharmacist Practitioner in the United States. Pharmacy (2019).
6. Qualitative study on the implementation of professional pharmacy services in Australian community pharmacies using framework analysis. BMC Health Services Research (2016).
7. An analysis of the global pharmacy workforce capacity. Human Resources for Health (2016).