Improving Pharmacy Access with a BC First Nation Community Health Centre (CHC)

The responsibilities of a pharmacist are well established within a Western healthcare framework; however, a pharmacist’s role within Indigenous-led healthcare is unclear. Indigenous-led healthcare services are designed by the community for the community and can be tailored to address specific community needs. Rural and remote communities often face significant barriers to accessing care because of geographic distances or chronic healthcare staff shortages. Providing access to a variety of healthcare services directly within the community can help address these challenges. Indigenous control over healthcare delivery is essential to honouring self-determination, addressing health inequities, and ensuring culturally safe care. This research is to investigate how to improve pharmacy access in a remote First Nations community by understanding patient and care provider perspectives on the importance of various pharmacy services at an individual and community level.

在西方医疗体系框架下，药剂师的职责已得到明确界定；然而，药剂师在原住民主导的医疗服务（Indigenous-led healthcare）中的角色尚不明确。原住民主导的医疗服务由社区主导设计并面向社区，可根据社区的特定需求进行定制调整。农村与偏远社区往往因地理距离遥远、长期存在医疗人员短缺问题，在获取医疗服务方面面临诸多显著障碍。在社区内部直接提供多样化的医疗服务，有助于缓解上述难题。原住民掌控医疗服务的提供流程，对于尊重自决权（self-determination）、解决健康不平等（health inequities）以及保障文化安全照护（culturally safe care）至关重要。本研究旨在通过了解患者与医疗服务提供者对各类药学服务（pharmacy services）在个体及社区层面重要性的看法，探索如何提升偏远第一民族（First Nations）社区的药学服务可及性（pharmacy access）。