Contraceptive counselling in community pharmacy: An opportunity to advance equitable contraceptive care

This thesis explores how extending community pharmacists’ contraceptive care scope of practice might be a part of the solution to address inequities in contraceptive care within the primary care system. We used a three-phase multiple-methods approach, combining implementation science principles, theories and frameworks with Holt and colleagues’ person-centred contraceptive care framework. The findings describe barriers to the provision of contraceptive counselling among pharmacists, the role and importance of this service in the health system, and how to improve a sense of safety and acceptability for people who use contraception, who would like to participate in contraceptive counselling in the community pharmacy setting. These findings can guide future implementation efforts.