Partnering to enhance mental health care capacity in communities

BACKGROUND: Community pharmacists care for and support people with lived experience of mental illness in their communities. We developed a program called More Than Meds to facilitate enhancing capacity of community pharmacists' roles in mental health care. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative study and used a directed content analysis with application of the Theoretical Domains Framework as part of our underlying theory of behaviour change and our analytic framework. RESULTS: Ten interviews (n = 6 pharmacists, n = 4 community members) were conducted with participants from the More Than Meds program. Three key themes were identified from the experiences of More Than Meds participants: networking and bridging, stigma, and expectations and permissions. The most frequently coded domains in the data from the Theoretical Domains Framework were social/professional role, skills, beliefs about capabilities, knowledge and environmental context and resources. CONCLUSIONS: The More than Meds Program enabled community pharmacists to increase their capabilities, opportunities and motivation in providing mental health care and support. Involving community pharmacists together with people with lived experience of mental illness was identified as an innovative component of the program.