A Pharmacist’s Role in the Prevention of Depression in Patients with Chronic Diseases

Depression is one of the leading disability factors worldwide, causing a loss of workability as well as economic and financial burdens. Depression walks hand-in-hand with different chronic illnesses like cardiovascular, endocrine, neurodegenerative, rheumatological, or oncological, due to which it can be overlooked and stay undiagnosed for a long time. The pharmacist’s role in finding and preventing depression in patients that are at risk, suffering from concomitant chronic diseases, has been researched. Patients were screened with the help of a specifically made questionnaire that gathers information on patients’ socio-demographic characteristics, as well as the PHQ-9, which focuses on finding how big the risk of depression is. The questionnaires were filled out in pharmacies in Sliven and Yambol from March to April 2022 and included 74 patients with chronic diseases. Results from the screening show that every chronically ill person who answered the questionnaire is at risk for depression, with 34% having moderately severe depression, 30% being severely depressed, 27% being moderately depressed, and only 9% showing slight signs of depression. This reinforces previous medical research indicating individuals suffering chronic diseases are more prone to developing depression, which might go unnoticed due to their primary illness. Implementing screening programs in pharmacies and making them available around the country can be an effective tool for the early identification of depressive symptoms in patients with chronic diseases.

Financial income planning at the community pharmacy based on financial flows and morbidity data

Introduction: Financial planning is one of the main ways to manage a company. As a health facility, the pharmacy should combine planning with necessity of medicines nomenclature, and availability of medicines service and care.One of the most important parameters in the planning process id forecasting the financial income of the entity. Its aim is to ensure the proper tracking of future cash flow, based on only income parameters of the community pharmacy, without taking into account the specifics of the work environment.Materials and Methods: All the provided data has been collected from a pharmacy in the period 2016 to 2020. The financial income of the pharmacy has been comparted to acute infectious diseases morbidity for the same period.We used descriptive statistics for calculating the share distribution of indicators, graphic and tabular analysis. The charts are built in Excel.Results: In the months January – April, for the period 2016 – 2019, there are opportunities to apply the economic methods for financial planning of the incomes. The financial parameters for 2020 can’t be predicted by any of the financial methods, because of the frequency changes and the proceeds for short amount of time. There are ways to predict the financial income for all of the analyzed periods, except 2020, because of the situation with Covid.While tracking the number of sick patients and comparing those figures to the movement in the cash flow, an observation could be made that there is no apparent dependency between both of these parameter

Awareness and Attitudes of the Population about Healthy Lifestyle

Introduction: A healthy lifestyle includes various aspects of daily life that support physical, mental, and emotional well-being. According to various analyses, an active health culture is the result of good personal awareness of health risk factors and the motivation of citizens. Sources of health information and health-seeking behavior can be doctors, pharmacists, patient associations, the Internet, etc. By means of the Internet, access to a variety of information is facilitated, which makes patients themselves more informed.Aim: To study the attitudes and preferences of citizens regarding their choice of information sources on the topic of a healthy lifestyle.Materials and Methods: An anonymous survey was conducted in an online environment among 85 respondents during the period of March to April 2024. Sociological and graphic methods, as well as descriptive statistics, were used, processed with Microsoft Excel, version 2016.Results and Discussion: The survey found a desire among the respondents to improve their lifestyle. Of the indicated sources of information, the most frequently chosen is the Internet and social media, at the expense of consultations with pharmacists or other medical specialists.Conclusion: People's awareness of the risks and benefits of a healthy lifestyle makes them more motivated to take active steps to improve their health. The introduction of Internet-related technologies in healthcare is changing the way individuals search for information, transforming their awareness from analog to digital sources

Pharmacists’ attitudes and preparedness prior to introducing the system of electronic prescriptions in Bulgaria

INTRODUCTION: By introducing electronic prescribing in December 2020, Bulgaria took a major step towards the digitalization of healthcare in the country. The regulatory framework was swiftly changed which resulted in little time for testing and implementing the e-prescription system.AIM: This study aims to explore the awareness, preparedness and attitudes of pharmacists towards the innovation prior to its mandatory launch.МATERIALS AND METHODS: A sociological method was used: a face-to-face anonymous survey among pharmacists in the region of Varna, utilizing paper questionnaires.RESULTS: The results showed the respondents’ positive attitudes and well equipped pharmacies. However, a number of challenges were also identified, such as insufficient information and trainings, a short trial period leading to concerns and lack of confidence in community pharmacists.CONCLUSION: The functioning e-healthcare system is a priority goal of healthcare development in Bulgaria. The introduction of the electronic prescription is an important step for the future digital transition in our country. Despite pharmacists’ positive attitudes towards the innovations and the expectations that it would enhance medical care, we should note that at the start of the project the focus was more on technological performance and not on staff training.  Trainings, time and experience are needed to build an effective functioning system in support of professionals and society

Specialized Electronic Tracking and Analysis System for the medicinal products (SETASMP) - challenges and attitudes for community pharmacists

The specialized electronic system for tracking and analyzing medicines / SETASMP/, included in The Positive Drug List / PDL/, is used to collect information for delivered/ sold medicines in the country. The main purpose is to provide people’s access to medicines and to prevent their shortage and lack.Aim: To track the awareness, attitudes, and the need of additional training to work with SETASMP among pharmacists in community pharmacy, in the process of introduction to practice.Materials and methods: An anonymous survey was conducted on the territory of Varna, among pharmacists in community pharmacy. Descriptive statistics, graphical analysis of results and non-parametric methods for hypothesis check are applied.Results: There is uncertainty between the respondents, connected with the technical performance in the daily work with the system. At the time of the survey, there is a lack of positive attitude of the pharmacists towards the benefit of SETASMP and the set goals. There is a desire for additional courses or training for pharmacists, related to practical application. No statistical significance was found between the experience of the pharmacist and the need for clarification and training for working with SETASMP

The association between burnout and metabolic disorders

Introduction: Professional burnout is an emotional and physical exhaustion closely related to stress that is not well managed. Initially considered to be specific to medical professionals, today burnout is spoken about in all spheres of social life. The development of the syndrome involves the physical condition, but outgrows or runs parallel to a dysfunctional change in the behavior of those affected.Aim: The aim of this article is to analyze the relationship between burnout and metabolic disorders.Materials and Methods: To achieve the goal, an analysis of the PubMed and Google Scholar databases by keywords has been conducted. Results: Burnout is a result of occupational stress that is not well managed. Subjects with occupational burnout experience emotional exhaustion, which often develops into physical symptoms. Changes in sleep and exhaustion are more often detected in these individuals, which often develop into metabolic disorders. Studies prove a relationship between a high level of occupational stress and a number of markers: increased blood pressure (p = 0.0), visceral obesity (p = 0.03), low HDL (p = 0.02), glycated hemoglobin, etc.High levels of occupational stress are associated with low motivation to build healthy habits. A link between diabetes and burnout has been observed in the literature, both in patients and in their relatives. In this case, occupational burnout is a product of the need to conduct activities to control the condition. The main guidelines related to the development of diabetes burnout are: feelings of mental exhaustion and physical fatigue from self-care related to the condition, neglecting the condition, withdrawal from care and support for the diabetic patient, feeling powerless to deal with diabetic burnout, individual characteristics of the life-like situation, as a result of which the control and aggravation of the condition is reached.Conclusion: Burnout can be a cause of metabolic disorders. On the other hand, diabetic patients and their relatives often suffer from burnout caused by the need to control the condition. It is necessary to carry out measures for the prevention of professional burnout to prevent the development of metabolic disorders, but also to help diabetic patients in the fight against the disease

Challenges in work of pharmacists in a pharmacy, related to changes in regulations, in condition of emergency situation and COVID-19

In March 2020, when Covid-19 was declared as a global pandemic, the changes started. One of them was the reorganization of work in the pharmacies and changes in the law regulation. The Pharmacists have faced a number of challenges related to compliance with the dynamically changing legal environment, increased administrative control by institutions, the need to maintain a high level of pharmaceutical care and services, to fulfill new administrative obligations, and also to provide the necessary quantities of drugs, medical devices, food supplements, sanitary and hygienic materials.The set goal is to examine the changes in the regulations which affect the activity of pharmacies in conditions of emergency and Covid 19, on this base, the challenges to the work of pharmacists are analyzed.The research is based on a documentary analysis of the changes in regulatory framework for the period March-July 2020. Thanks to the method for expert assessment, the rules for work in pharmacies, in the conditions of Covid-19, have been systematized.The results demonstrate that the imposed over-control and the often changing requirements by the administration, in the condition of Covid-19, lead to difficulties in the performance of pharmacists official duties. Because of that, they face high risk of making mistakes during their work. There is shifting the focus from pharmaceutical care, to counseling the creation of outpatient care with an emphasys on hygiene measures for Covid-19 prevention and administrationIn a pandemic, pharmacists have an important role in the public health. They raise citizens awareness of compliance with anti-epidemic measures and restrictions.The Pharmacists are the most accessible health specialists who should monitor, support and control the rational use of drugs

OCCUPATIONAL BURNOUT SYNDROME AMONG COMMUNITY PHARMACISTS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Introduction: The community pharmacy is the most accessible medical facility in the current healthcare system. Therefore, the expectations from  pharmacists as the most accessible healthcare professionals are constantly rising. However, various studies indicate that pharmacists are subject to very high levels of occupational stress and professional burnout is common. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed new challenges to the work organisation in pharmacies and demand for an adequate reorganisation. In addition, it forced pharmacists to quickly adapt to the new circumstances and requirements and further increased occupational stress.  Objective: To establish the level of occupational burnout among community pharmacists during COVID-19. Materials and Methods: An anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted among 127 pharmacists working in community pharmacies in Varna, Bulgaria. The study period was from March 2021 to October 2021. The questionnaire consisted of two parts; the first one was based on the specialised Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-HSS) tool, assessing professional burnout in terms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and personal accomplishment; the second one collected data about the demographic characteristics of the respondents, including their job position, pharmacy type (an independent pharmacy or a pharmacy chain) and information on specific problems during COVID-19. Results: The identified mean values in the group of respondents were as follows: emotional exhaustion M=23.39 (SD 9,298), depersonalisation M=12.37 (SD 6,426), professional achievements M=31.25 (SD 7,531). The sample mean values that stood out were in the depersonalisation scale М=12.37, which is considered a high value.  A statistically significant difference was found in the different age groups on the depersonalisation scale (F=3,957, p=0,022). There was a statistically significant difference between the arithmetic mean values for the age groups 25-40 years (M=13.75) and over 55 years (M=9.86). Conclusion:  Based on the statistical differences for depersonalisation among pharmacists in different age groups, it can be concluded that young pharmacists do not express empathy while providing pharmaceutical care services