Responding to people in danger: A feasibility study to co-develop a community pharmacy response service for domestic violence and suicidal ideation
Cofounded by Prof Josie Solomon, Lifeguard Pharmacy is a supportive signposting service for people who are in danger of harm from themselves or others. This includes people who are experiencing suicidal thoughts and people who are experiencing domestic abuse. The service operates out of Co-op pharmacies across Lincolnshire.
Ethics approval has been received from the Health Research Authority: North West, Preston committee (22/NW/0016/AM01).
Funded by NIHR Research for Patient Benefit, awarded £370,459. Key contact: Dr Josie Solomon
The main aim of this study is to co-develop and evaluate the feasibility of a community pharmacy response service / intervention for people in danger from domestic violence or suicidal ideation.
| Team | Dr J Solomon (School of Pharmacy, University of Lincoln) Prof G Law (CaHRU & LinCTU, University of Lincoln) Dr E Rowan (CaHRU & LinCTU, University of Lincoln) Dr A Latif (University of Lincoln) Dr P Knapp (University of York) Prof M Gussy (LIIRH, University of Lincoln) Prof D Baines (School of Pharmacy, University of Lincoln) Dr C Henderson (King’s College, London) Mr M Khatri (lay representative) |
| Team/Consortium | University of Lincoln University of York King’s College, London |
| Overarching aim | To co-develop and evaluate the feasibility of a community pharmacy response service / intervention for people in danger from domestic violence or suicidal ideation. |
| Objectives | 1. To co-develop with patients / public and professionals a promotional strategy (i.e. poster displays, life-guard cards) to increase public awareness and engagement with the ‘Life-guard’ service 2. To co-develop with patients / public and professionals a training package and signposting resources for pharmacy staff to enable them to respond to people in danger e.g. suicidal ideation / domestic violence 3. To deliver the ‘Life-guard’ service in a purposive sample of community pharmacies to collect data on feasibility and implementation. 4. To evaluate the service through the collection of pharmacy data (e.g. service uptake) ascertain public and professional views on accessibility, acceptability and service delivery 5. To evaluate the potential for the intervention to be scaled up for a future trial, including economic and statistical considerations. |
| Methods | This is a two-stage development and feasibility study to develop a complex intervention, using the MRC framework for complex interventions. |
| Outcomes | Number of referrals made to each of the referral services |
| Outputs | Solomon J, Gorton H, Barcelos AM, Latham-Green T, Williams S, Rowan E, Knapp P, Henderson C, Gussy M, Barnes R. A mixed-methods cross-sectional study to evaluate the public acceptability of a novel pharmacy-based response service for domestic abuse and/or suicidal ideation. Research in social and administrative pharmacy. 2024 20:969-77. Barcelos AM, Latham-Green T, Barnes R, Gorton H, Gussy M, Henderson C, Khatri M, Knapp P, Solomon J. Lifeguard Pharmacy: the co-development of a new community pharmacy response service for people in danger from domestic abuse or suicidal ideation. International Journal of Pharmacy Practice. 2024 4:riae043. |
| Impact | The hope is that a fully developed intervention will be tested in a full clinical trial. |