Ask a patient.
For years, Noel Guscott didn’t have a primary care provider. Instead, he relied on the knowledge and expertise of pharmacists as an important part of the care he needed to manage his health conditions.
That experience was a key reason he partnered with Nova Scotia researcher Dr. Jennifer Isenor and her team, whose research found the patient perspective was largely missing from evaluations of expanded pharmacist-led primary care.
“I joined this project because I believed patients should have a meaningful voice in defining what good care looks like,” said Guscott, a partner with lived and living experience. “I really wanted to talk about what was working, and what could be improved in the patient journey as the scope of care pharmacists provide continues to grow.”
With a background in health policy, Guscott also saw the project as an opportunity to help bridge the gap between health policy, research and lived experience.
“Too often, health systems measure what is easy to quantify, rather than qualifying care,” he said.
Noel Guscott
Last year, the research team went directly to patients through focus groups, interviews and a survey. What they heard informed a set of questions to measure patients’ experiences and outcomes, known as patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).
The team then brought together pharmacy regulators, advocacy organizations, government representatives and educators from across the Maritimes and nationally to explore how those measures could be used. The 13 participants represented government, advocacy organizations and regulators from across the Maritimes. A representative from the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities also shared the foundational scoping review and a research snapshot with pharmacy regulators across Canada.
“The Nova Scotia Pharmacy Regulator exists to ensure Nova Scotians receive high-quality care from pharmacy professionals. Partnering to create patient-reported outcome and experience measures allows us to directly evaluate if we are fulfilling that promise,” said Dr. Andrea Bishop, Director of Research Engagement with the Nova Scotia Pharmacy Regulator and a member of the research team. “It’s a powerful example of turning research into action, because when patient care is the priority, everyone wins.”
