Well-Being
Sonya Collins
As the holiday season approaches, pharmacists and their patients find themselves, like everyone, sandwiched between the grief brought on by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the gratitude and thanksgiving of the upcoming holiday.
Though no one wishes for a pandemic, some pharmacists have seen good come of it. Pharmacy Today asked pharmacists to share their stories of gratitude in anticipation of Thanksgiving.
For the good in others
At a time when people fight about masks, vaccines, and other safety protocols, Anthony Walker, PharmD, clinical associate professor of pharmacy at University of Louisiana Monroe, said the pandemic has brought out the best in people, too.
Walker and a university staff member were circling a building on campus trying to find the COVID-19 immunization and testing center, which had been moved to another location. Walker, already vaccinated, was seeking a test. The staffer he met was going to get the vaccine. They walked together and chatted as they looked for the right place. When Walker noticed that the man had kept his mask up the entire time, though they were outside, he reached for his own mask as well. But the man said, “Sir, you don’t have to put that on for me. I’m wearing mine for you. I really don’t believe in these masks, but I believe in the vaccine,” Walker recalled the man saying.
“This really touched me because I have experienced situations in which professionals won’t wear masks, and they know better, but this gentleman thinks enough of his fellow community members to wear his mask, even though he said he didn’t believe in them.”
For personal well-being
Dana Elder, a student pharmacist at University of Houston College of Pharmacy, found gratitude for her own well-being as she nurtured the well-being of others during the pandemic.
In early 2020, Elder jumped at the chance to take over the weekly beading classes at New Hope Housing, a facility that serves the homeless and those at high risk of becoming homeless. Elder had big plans for the program. She wanted to add pet therapy, music therapy, and cooking classes to the lineup. Then the pandemic shut down all those plans.
Elder would have to make do with a pared-down beading class and no new additions to the schedule. Every week, through beading, a small group of residents was able to alleviate stress, express creativity, and cultivate relationships with their neighbors. While making jewelry together, the residents connected and shared their thoughts and feelings on the world around them.
“Even though I only made an impact on a small number of people, for that small group, the consistency and familiarity of the beading class thwarted loneliness, alleviated stress, and gave everyone something to look forward to during a bleak and bizarre time. It was powerful, meaningful, and came at an ideal time,” Elder said. “Not only did the project improve the well-being of the population I served, but it also enhanced my own sense of well-being and encouraged me to practice gratitude.”
For professional opportunities
Henry Cohen, PharmD, Dean at Touro College of Pharmacy in New York City, is grateful for the opportunities that the pandemic has provided pharmacists and the ways in which pharmacists have seized them.
“We are grateful that the transformation brought on by the pandemic has pharmacists front and center,” Cohen said.
According to CDC, as of September 22, 2021, pharmacists in community pharmacies across the United States have administered 133 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, including eight million doses administered onsite at long-term care facilities. Nearly half of Americans who got vaccines through community pharmacies come from racial or ethnic minority groups.
The pandemic has prompted emergency expansion of pharmacists’ and pharmacy technicians’ scope of practice, which has allowed pharmacists to administer COVID-19 tests, vaccinate younger patients, and administer treatments, such as monoclonal antibody therapy, for the virus.
“As a result, pharmacists have become more central to disease prevention and control,” he said. “They are an increasingly trusted resource for health care and health information. Pharmacists are climbing in the polls of the nations’ most respected professions, but what is most impressive is that it has been reported that pharmacists have joined the ranks of the Internet’s most persuasive influencers.”