Background: Counselling in community pharmacy has been studied over the years in different ways. Often the studies focused on pharmaceutical care and identification, solution, and documentation of drug related problems. Inclusion of the patient-perspective has been described to a lesser extent.

Purpose: A Danish study concluded that pharmacy staff only rarely attended to and included patients’ perspectives. In particular, it was found that staff held back if they sensed the patient were emotionally affected. Based on these findings, an education was developed and evaluated to ensure patient-centered care in community pharmacy.

Method: The education program was developed in Denmark by researchers from The University of Copenhagen and Pharmakon and tested in both Denmark and the Netherlands. The development was done in a data-driven workshop format, including user perspectives from patients, pharmacy workforce and owners. The education spans across four months and combines physical attendance and online modules in the topics the mentalizing mindset, mentalizing communication and pharmacy practice. The combination of topics from natural and humanistic sciences resulted in a unique program. The evaluation consists of quantitative evaluations of each module including specific topics in respect to knowledge gained and level. Additionally, the evaluation included reflections from participants on personal and professional practices.

Findings: 28 participants attended the education in Denmark, 14 pharmacy technicians, 13 pharmacists and 1 pharmacy owner. The final education corresponds to 3.5 ECTS and consists of 20 h onsite and 16 h online. Between the modules the participants did homework supporting the modules. The participants got individual feedback twice based on video recordings of their counselling at the counter. A final report was handed in finally. Participants reported that the education is extremely relevant and adds a new perspective to patient counselling in community pharmacies. The program is long and intensive, but pharmacy workforce experienced that this format made a significant difference in the counselling situation. (The education will finish by the 10’th of January and based in the evaluation further results will be presented at the PCNE conference).

Conclusion: 28 participants completed the education “Counseling first hand—understanding the customer and yourself through mentalizing”. They found the program relevant and groundbreaking, and experienced that their counselling practice became more patient-centered.