Effects of focused continuing pharmacy education on pharmacists’ attitudes toward suicide prevention

Abstract

Background: Pharmacists are ideally situated to be involved in suicide prevention, but little is known about their attitudes toward suicide prevention. Aims: To determine whether continuing pharmacy education (CPE) focused on suicide and its prevention would positively affect pharmacists’ attitudes toward suicide prevention. Methods: A one-hour presentation on suicide and suicide prevention was developed for a school-sponsored CPE activity. Pharmacists who attended the CPE activity were asked to complete an online survey that included the Attitudes to Suicide Prevention (ASP) scale before and after the educational activity. Results: The survey was completed by 99/173 (57%) pharmacists before the CPE activity and 87/173 (50%) pharmacists after the CPE activity. The mean ASP total score decreased from 33.1 +/- 4.3 to 30.0 +/- 6.6 ( p <0.001), and 6 of 14 individual items were statistically significantly improved. Conclusion: Focused CPE had a positive impact on pharmacists’ attitudes toward suicide prevention. Future methodologically rigorous studies are warranted.