Pharmacists in Pandemics: A Critical Role in Multidisciplinary Healthcare Teams

Abstract

Pharmacists have demonstrated a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic, emerging as some of the most relied-upon healthcare professionals (Alves da Costa et al., 2020). As the primary interface between patients and the healthcare system, pharmacists have engaged in a wide array of activities to support the community and other health professionals. A particular emphasis has been placed on their capacity to function as members of a multidisciplinary healthcare team. The continuing COVID-19 pandemic constitutes the greatest public health crisis since the 1918 influenza pandemic. Healthcare systems across the globe have been overwhelmed by the number of patients requiring treatment. Pharmacists have been asked to assume a wide array of responsibilities within the healthcare system, particularly to address the significantly increased demand for medication-related services, often extending even beyond the traditional practice domain. However, the notion of pharmacy practice embracing a multidisciplinary healthcare team (MDHT) model is not unique to any particular global health crisis. Pharmacy’s alignment with MDHTs as a general principle of healthcare represents one of the most significant, persistent, and influential facets of the profession over the last several decades. The multidisciplinary approach to healthcare delivery attempts to address the increasingly complex spectrum of patient care by capitalizing on the multiple areas of expertise possessed by diverse healthcare professionals (Ahmed Sami et al., 2021). Collectively, a group of interprofessional healthcare professionals form a team, equipped with an expanded spectrum of skills to deliver an enhanced level of healthcare to the patient, the healthcare system, and the broader community. Conventional MDHTs may be comprised of various combinations of medical practitioners, nurses, and pharmacists, but they are not limited to these healthcare professionals. Other potential healthcare providers that may be included in an MDHT extend beyond the realm of conventional medicine to encompass, for example, paramedics, physiotherapists, or social workers. The inclusion of a pharmacist as a member of an MDHT is seemingly advantageous due to the health professional’s extensive knowledge surrounding the domain of medication, which frequently serves as the most prominent and widely utilized mechanism for therapeutic intervention (A. Cadogan & M. Hughes, 2021).The concept of MDHTs, in a general sense, finds further support through an increasing body of evidence that illustrates some of the many benefits associated with healthcare practice governed by teams of healthcare professionals. As a result, the multidisciplinary approach has continued to flourish and grow over the last several decades, being applied across a wide spectrum of different healthcare destinations and settings.