About the Author
Jeannette Y. Wick, MBA, RPh, FASCP, is the director of the Office of Pharmacy Professional Development at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.
Spotlight
Clinical Role
Clinical
Supplement Spotlight
CE
Subscribe
Publication
Article
Pharmacy Times
June 2025Volume91 Issue 6
Pharmacies Need Strategies to Improve Health Care Access
Author(s):
Key Takeaways
- Pharmacists can address SDOH by providing patient-centered care, promoting immunizations, and offering point-of-care testing to improve health outcomes.
- Addressing pharmacy deserts and enhancing interdisciplinary collaboration, especially with social workers, are crucial for improving health care access.
Step up and speak out to break down barriers to health care and address social determinants of health.
Social determinants of health (SDOH)—the circumstances in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age—are different for every person. Each unique set of economic, educational, social, and environmental circumstances significantly affects their quality of life and health.1
Image credit: Clayton D/peopleimages.com | stock.adobe.com
An additional influence is health care access and quality. Individuals who live in less-than-ideal circumstances often have poor access to health care and public health resources. The Healthy People 2030 initiative addresses structural health care inequalities and implements programs to ameliorate SDOH.1 Organizations are taking action to improve care for everyone, but pharmacists and pharmacy technicians may be unaware of their opportunities to advance SDOH.
HELPING PATIENTS
Providing consistent and insightful patient-centered care activities is the first area in which pharmacy staff can help patients who have barriers related to SDOH.2 The Table2-7 lists 3 areas in which pharmacy staff can help. Each step is key to developing trust and making patients comfortable enough to disclose sensitive information. Providing care with cultural humility is critical. Understanding religious practices that may affect adherence is an example of cultural humility.4
PRACTICE INTERVENTIONS
The public has increasingly learned that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are leaders in primary prevention. Offering and promoting immunizations and point-of-care testing are 2 proven ways to address SDOH.2 More recent changes in many states include the ability to prescribe oral contraceptives and plan outreach events to monitor blood pressure or cholesterol; the latter, when coupled with referral to appropriate medical services, is a valuable intervention.2
The pharmacy profession needs to improve in 2 areas. The first is reaching pharmacy deserts (areas where residents lack pharmacy access).2 Offering telephone-based consultations or counseling and delivery services can partially fill this gap. The second area for improvement is expanding and refining interdisciplinary collaboration. Although more pharmacists are working on care teams and executing collaborative practice agreements, ideally, all pharmacists would practice at the top of their licenses. In particular, pharmacists should consider working more closely with social workers, as they are more aware of patients’ overall circumstances.8 Attorneys who work in medicolegal partnerships can help clients rectify issues such as roach and rodent infestation, broken refrigerators, and a lack of heat.9
One growing area of interest is collaboration with community health workers (CHWs), who are trusted community members and possess an intricate grasp of their communities.10,11 Because some communities inherit issues that affect their health status, training and actively engaging CHWs improve outcomes. For example, many Cambodian Americans who have lived in the US for years experience persistent treatment-resistant anxiety disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder. They are also more likely to have diabetes, pain, and disability than other groups.10 CHWs serve as interpreters, facilitators, and advocates to help patients navigate bureaucracy, identify reasonable ways that patients can change behaviors, and advocate on behalf of patients.11
STEPPING UP A LEVEL
Pharmacy teams can also speak to and for their communities. Working with local organizations such as social service providers, food banks, and shelters— either as volunteers or paid employees—is a good way to become community-based referral experts.8
All actions at the local level can lead to better access to care and improved outcomes, but at some point, legislators need to address these issues. Contributing informed and evidence-based commentary to political discussion is a professional responsibility.12 Actions as simple as tracking important local, state, and federal legislation and contacting legislators make a difference, especially when many pharmacists speak out. Pharmacists who engage should always discuss the elephant in the room: reimbursement.13
CONCLUSION
Addressing SDOH requires a thoughtful strategy. At the patient level, screening and immunization are the pharmacy’s best interventions, but there is room for improvement. Practice advances will require a better appreciation of and collaboration with all health care providers. Systemically, our legislators need to step up to the plate and deliver better care models that offer equitable care for all Americans.
REFERENCES
1. Social determinants of health. Healthy People 2030. Accessed May 5, 2025. https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/socialdeterminants-health
2. Kiles TM, Peroulas D, Borja-Hart N. Defining the role of pharmacists in addressing the social determinants of health. Res Social Adm Pharm. 2022;18(9):3699-3703. doi:10.1016/j.sapharm.2022.01.005
3. American College of Clinical Pharmacy; O’Connell MB, Korner EJ, Rickles NM, Sias JJ. Cultural competence in health care and its implications for pharmacy: part 1: overview of key concepts in multicultural health care. Pharmacotherapy. 2007;27(7):1062-1079. doi:10.1592/phco.27.7.1062
4. Elmaoued AA, Radwan RM, Hassan OE, Zaed M, White RT. Improving cultural humility in pharmacy education: a focus on diabetes management during religious fasting. Curr Pharm Teach Learn. 2025;17(4):102275. doi:10.1016/j.cptl.2024.102275
5. Dalton K, Byrne S. Role of the pharmacist in reducing healthcare costs: current insights. Integr Pharm Res Pract. 2017;6:37-46. doi:10.2147/IPRP.S108047
6. Kini V, Ho PM. Interventions to improve medication adherence: a review. JAMA. 2018;320(23):2461-2473. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.19271 7. Pharmacy’s Appointment Based Model: medication synchronization align my refills. APhA Foundation. Accessed May 5, 2025. https://www.aphafoundation.org/pharmacys-appointment-based-model
8. Gil M, Mikaitis DK, Shier G, Johnson TJ, Sims S. Impact of a combined pharmacist and social worker program to reduce hospital readmissions. J Manag Care Pharm. 2013;19(7):558-563. doi:10.18553/jmcp.2013.19.7.558
9. Wick CJ, Wick JY. Medical-legal partnerships: a healing collaboration. Consult Pharm. 2018;33(2):66-74. doi:10.4140/TCP.n.2018.66
10. Wagner J, Bermúdez-Millán A, Buckley T, et al. Self-reported outcomes of a randomized trial comparing three community health worker interventions for diabetes prevention among Cambodian Americans with depression. Patient Educ Couns. 2022;105(12):3501-3508.doi:10.1016/j.pec.2022.09.011
11. Community Health Worker (CHW) overview. National Association of Social Workers. Accessed May 5, 2025. https://careers.naswwa.socialworkers.org/career/community-health-worker-chw
12. Little J, Ortega M, Powell M, Hamm M. ASHP statement on advocacy as a professional obligation. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2019;76(4):251-253. doi:10.1093/ajhp/zxy040
13. Foster AA, Daly CJ, Logan T, et al. Implementation and evaluation of social determinants of health practice models within community pharmacy. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2022;62(4):1407-1416.doi:10.1016/j.japh.2022.02.005
Articles in this issue
Newsletter
Stay informed on drug updates, treatment guidelines, and pharmacy practice trends—subscribe to Pharmacy Times for weekly clinical insights.
Related Videos
Related Content
