ReviewBMJ open2021
Rapid realist review of the role of community pharmacy in the public health response to COVID-19.
Review in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed.
- Balancing public health needs and economic sustainability: A dual-matrix model for community pharmacy inventory management.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2026Article
- Knowledge, Practice and Barriers of Community Pharmacists Towards Asthma Management: A Cross-Sectional Study in Saudi Arabia.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Social Attitudes Towards Public Health Interventions in Community Pharmacies in Poland: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Survey.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2026Article
- Methods of Engaging Interest-Holders in Healthcare Evidence Syntheses: A Scoping Review.Cochrane evidence synthesis and methods · 2026Review
- From public healthcare centers to community pharmacies: the new Portuguese seasonal vaccination strategy.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Availability, utilization, and factors associated with professional pharmacy services in community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study.Journal of pharmacy & pharmaceutical sciences : a publication of the Canadian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Societe canadienne des sciences pharmaceutiques · 2026Article
- Healthcare Practice Post COVID-19 Impacts: Will 21st Century Pharmacists Become Global, Agile, Collaborative and Curated?Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The impact and legacy of COVID-19 on community-based multidisciplinary teams organising integrated health and social care for older people with long-term conditions: Findings from the evaluation of the integrated care and support Pioneers.Journal of health services research & policy · 2025Article
- Patient Satisfaction with Pharmacist-Led COVID-19 Testing in Community Pharmacies: Insights from the Croatian Experience.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Pharmaceutical Public Health: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring Pharmacy Professionals' Advanced Roles in Public Health, Including the Barriers and Enablers.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Measuring the patient safety climate in community pharmacies: an updated national survey.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Advisory groups in realist reviews: Systematically mapping current research and recommendations for practice.Cochrane evidence synthesis and methods · 2024Review
- Article
- [Diagnosis by isothermal amplification of nucleic acids. Opportunity for community pharmacies].Farmaceuticos comunitarios · 2024Review
- Perspectives of community pharmacy staff on commonly encountered skin conditions and the key challenges towards enhancing their role in dermatology.Skin health and disease · 2024Article
- Early Detection Screening of Cognitive Decline in Patients Over 60 Years: ELDERCARE Study.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2024Article
- Providing care to marginalised communities: a qualitative study of community pharmacy teams.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Article
- INdependenT prEscribinG in community phaRmAcy; whaT works for whom, why and in what circumstancEs (INTEGRATE): Realist review study protocol.NIHR open research · 2024Article
- Knowledge and attitudes of community pharmacists on vaccination, barriers and willingness to implement community pharmacy-based vaccination services in Ethiopia.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2023Article
- Community pharmacy services during the COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from providers and policy makers.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionCommunity pharmacists and their teams have remained accessible to the public providing essential services despite immense pressures during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have successfully expanded the influenza vaccination programme and are now supporting the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out.
aimThis rapid realist review aims to understand how community pharmacy can most effectively deliver essential and advanced services, with a focus on vaccination, during the pandemic and in the future.
methodAn embryonic programme theory was generated using four diverse and complementary documents along with the expertise of the project team. Academic databases, preprint services and grey literature were searched and screened for documents meeting our inclusion criteria. The data were extracted from 103 documents to develop and refine a programme theory using a realist logic of analysis. Our analysis generated 13 context-mechanism-outcome configurations explaining when, why and how community pharmacy can support public health vaccination campaigns, maintain essential services during pandemics and capitalise on opportunities for expanded, sustainable public health service roles. The views of stakeholders including pharmacy users, pharmacists, pharmacy teams and other healthcare professionals were sought throughout to refine the 13 explanatory configurations.
resultsThe 13 context-mechanism-outcome configurations are organised according to decision makers, community pharmacy teams and community pharmacy users as key actors. Review findings include: supporting a clear role for community pharmacies in public health; clarifying pharmacists' legal and professional liabilities; involving pharmacy teams in service specification design; providing suitable guidance, adequate compensation and resources; and leveraging accessible, convenient locations of community pharmacy. DISCUSSION: Community pharmacy has been able to offer key services during the pandemic. Decision makers must endorse, articulate and support a clear public health role for community pharmacy. We provide key recommendations for decision makers to optimise such a role during these unprecedented times and in the future.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.