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Objective: The Bridging the Gap Between Physical and Mental Illness in Community Pharmacy ("PharMIbridge") randomised controlled trial (RCT) aims to test the effectiveness of a pharmacist-led support service in improving medication adherence, and the physical and mental health of people living with severe and persistent mental illness compared to a standard medication review service. Method: Using the six-step intervention mapping (IM) framework, this paper describes the development and content of the "PharMIbridge" pharmacist training programme, an integral part of the RCT implementation, and continuous adaptations made to the process to keep pace with the evolving severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in Australia. A Training Working Group comprising health educators, practitioners, mental health consumers and researchers, refined the programme objectives and assisted with developing content and troubleshooting issues related to training delivery for pharmacists randomised to the RCT intervention arm. Results: A 2-day training programme was developed, which included Mental Health First Aid, simulated patient role-plays, and four pre-recorded modules using lectures, demonstration case vignettes, role-play activities and discussion. The programme, co-facilitated by project team members and mentors (pharmacist and consumer educators), aims to enhance pharmacists' mental health literacy, skills and confidence and empower them to engage with this vulnerable population using a strengths-based approach. Pre- and post-training questionnaires and interviews will be used to evaluate the impact of the "PharMIbridge" training programme. Conclusion: The systematic stepwise method provided by the IM framework highlights the solution-focused approach adopted by the project team and characteristics including adaptability and resilience which enabled training development and implementation across four Australian regions during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Objective: People living with severe and persistent mental illness experience poorer physical health, often due to medication and preventable lifestyle factors, and exacerbated by barriers to accessing healthcare services. Pharmacists are well-positioned to improve the physical and mental health of this population. However, little is known about pharmacists' current practices when providing services to this population nor the impact of pharmacist-led interventions on consumer health outcomes. We undertook a systematic review to identify, describe and assess the effectiveness of pharmacist-led interventions for supporting people living with severe and persistent mental illness and the impact on consumer outcomes. Methods: MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Library, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses were searched between January 1990 and April 2020. Full-text studies exploring pharmacist-led interventions in any setting for people living with severe and persistent mental illness were included. A risk of bias assessment was conducted. Results: A total of 37 studies were included. More than half of the pharmacist interventions were multifaceted. The most common components of pharmacist-led interventions included education and/or patient counselling, providing recommendations to healthcare professionals and conducting medication reviews. Multifaceted interventions demonstrated improvements in clinical outcomes, whereas single interventions focused mostly on consumer-reported outcomes. The methodological quality of included studies was moderate-to-high risk of bias and there was considerable heterogeneity in the study design, interventions described, and outcomes reported. Conclusion: There is evidence that pharmacist-led interventions improve consumer-reported and clinical outcomes for people living with severe and persistent mental illness. Pharmacists are capable and have a role in supporting people living with severe and persistent mental illness, either individually or as interprofessional collaborators with other healthcare professionals. Future research should attempt to better understand which particular intervention components have the greatest impact and also evaluate the implementation and long-term sustainability of such interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]