Pharmacy school-led program focuses on rural pharmacies
In seven states, students dispense medication and counsel patients as part of the Rural Research Alliance of Community Pharmacies.
As the leader of the Rural Research Alliance of Community Pharmacies, the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy serves rural North Carolinians who may not have convenient access to medical care.
RURAL-CP is the first and only multistate practice-based research network developed exclusively for U.S. rural community pharmacies. One of the program’s components pairs pharmacy professors and students on funded research studies. Students look at survey data, assist with data collection for ongoing studies and sometimes formulate their own research studies that they implement through the network. Students who are on rotation at RURAL-CP pharmacies dispense medication, counsel patients and start new services, like drug takeback programs or naloxone dispensing.
For Paul Alebrande, a third-year Doctor of Pharmacy student, the RURAL-CP program has taught him the importance of creating space for patient conversation and establishing trust over time. “It’s about working with them to find solutions that fit them specifically because not every patient is the same.”
RURAL-CP comprises 155 pharmacies spanning seven Southeast states, with 33 pharmacies in North Carolina. RURAL-CP members tour the pharmacies and meet their staff to learn their workflow and about the challenges in their communities.
Network pharmacies collaborate with participating pharmacy schools to identify and address societal, community and professional questions relating to medication use and pharmacy practice. The program’s mission is to reduce rural health disparities by supporting high-quality implementation of research with rural community pharmacies.
“We connect with rural pharmacies and give them a voice,” said Delesha Carpenter, pharmacy school professor and executive vice chair in the division of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy.
Pharmacists at each college work together on research projects, ranging from vaccinations to suicide prevention. They also research financial threats to rural pharmacies, identifying ways pharmacies can continue to operate and provide residents with access to services and medication.
Ultimately, the program documents how rural pharmacies continue to provide these much-needed services during trying financial times and helps pharmacists address communication around sensitive topics, such as suicide, opioid overdose and vaccines. “We facilitate bringing evidence-based information and sharing ideas across a large swath of the southeastern U.S.,” said Stephanie Kiser, professor of the practice at the pharmacy school and the executive director of the rural pharmacy health initiative. “Pharmacists are so forward-thinking when it comes to working with patients. Bringing together pharmacists dealing with similar issues is a beneficial tool.”
This year, Alebrande did research projects on COVID-19 vaccine communication and helped develop training videos on overcoming barriers to dispensing buprenorphine, a drug used to treat opioid addiction. “This type of research in rural communities brings awareness to what’s happening in these communities because they face a lot of different barriers, like geographical barriers that limit access to providers,” said Alebrande.
All research through the program examines how to improve patient care and how community engagement is vital in improving overall health in rural areas. “UNC has done a phenomenal job at making us great pharmacists. I’m learning how to talk to patients and how to empathize with them,” said Alebrande. “I’m learning different techniques on how to educate patients on certain topics. The school has done an amazing job setting up students for their careers.”
RURAL-CP hopes to add more pharmacies in North Carolina and six other Southeastern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee.
“We hope to have these rural pharmacies provide more services and be a larger health care resource in their communities,” said Carpenter. “The goal is to improve access to health care in rural areas, reducing rural health disparities and having trained health care providers closer to residents in those communities.”
