Using design thinking to strengthen the community pharmacist's role in epilepsy care

Sabra Zaraa; H Steve White; Andy Stergachis; Edward J Novotny Jr; Chris Protos; Grant Simic; Jennifer L Bacci

doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2023.109542

Using design thinking to strengthen the community pharmacist's role in epilepsy care

Epilepsy Behav. 2024 Jan:150:109542. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2023.109542. Epub 2023 Nov 29.

Authors

Sabra Zaraa¹, H Steve White², Andy Stergachis³, Edward J Novotny Jr⁴, Chris Protos⁵, Grant Simic⁵, Jennifer L Bacci²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacy, University of Washington School of Pharmacy, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Box 357630, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. Electronic address: szaraa@uw.edu.
² Department of Pharmacy, University of Washington School of Pharmacy, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Box 357630, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
³ Department of Pharmacy, University of Washington School of Pharmacy, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Box 357630, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; Department of Global Health, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁴ Department of Neurology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Center for Integrative Brain Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁵ UCB Pharma, Smyrna, GA, USA.

PMID: 38035539
DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2023.109542

Abstract

Objective: To use design thinking to develop a community pharmacist-led intervention for people living with epilepsy (PWE) with desirable, feasible, and viable features.

Methods: This study used design thinking. Three patient personas were created based on previous research: a newly diagnosed PWE, a well-controlled PWE, and a complex PWE with uncontrolled seizures. An intervention prototype was developed for each of the three personas. Structured interviews were conducted with pharmacists, pharmacy students, patients with diagnosed epilepsy, and caregivers to elicit feedback on which features of each intervention prototype were desirable, feasible, and viable. Interviews were analyzed using rapid content analysis. A multidisciplinary advisory group and the research team prioritized features of the prototypes to include in the final intervention.

Results: The following four features were identified as desirable, feasible, and viable for a pharmacist-led intervention for PWE: (1) pharmacist-patient consultations, (2) care plan development, (3) regular check-ins, and (4) care coordination with other health care providers.

Significance: This study identified evidence-based features for a community pharmacist intervention to support epilepsy care using design thinking. A pilot study to evaluate this intervention on the quality of life (QoL), health outcomes and satisfaction of PWE can inform the implementation and feasibility of such patient services.

Keywords: Community pharmacy services; Epilepsy care; Medication therapy management; Pharmacist; Population health.

MeSH terms

Epilepsy* / therapy
Humans
Pharmacists*
Pilot Projects
Quality of Life