Between what is and what could be: a survey of pharmacists’ practices, attitudes, and beliefs in the provision of mental health care

Background Pharmacists can have an essential role in providing care for patients with mental illness. There are gaps in the understanding of the current extent of pharmacists’ involvement in caring for patients with mental illness and their readiness to effectively provide this care. Aim To describe the current practices, attitudes, and beliefs of pharmacists in providing care to individuals with mental illness, and to assess factors that may impact these practices. Method An electronic questionnaire was emailed to pharmacists in Saskatchewan, Canada. Likert scale questions were utilized, and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis for free-text responses. Results The response rate was 9.1% (n = 146/1596). Fewer than 20% of respondents reported they were providing the clinical services listed to most or all patients with mental illness, except for providing basic medication education (61%). Almost all agreed it is a pharmacist’s role to provide all the services (61–98% for different services) and many were motivated to provide them (47–91%). The factors most frequently selected as having the greatest impact on service provision were insufficient knowledge (27%, n = 34) and competing priorities (19%, n = 24). Conclusion Consistent with international trends, Saskatchewan pharmacists reported low provision of clinical services for individuals with mental illness, despite a readiness to provide these services. There is an opportunity and a need to better utilize pharmacists internationally in the provision of mental health care.