Development of a Data-Driven Human-Centered Design Process for Cannabis Education for Pharmacists

Funder: ARTP 1
Program: ARTP 1
PI Name: Daniel Bear
Faculty/Department: Faculty of Social & Community Services
Research Area(s): Social Innovation

The 42,500 pharmacists in Canada represent Canada's most widely available access point for low-barrier medical services. Given the regulations preventing discussion of cannabis’ benefits, a potential treatment of medical conditions, or potential risks by cannabis retailers, pharmacists represent the best-unrealized avenue for cannabis consumers to obtain medical advice or harm reduction guidance. However, there is no clear information about what kind of training is being offered in pharmacy programs in Canada, nor in the Continuing Education programming required in most provinces. In short, we don’t know what pharmacists are being taught, and, more importantly, what they’re not being taught. This project will conduct a scoping review of all potential educational tools available to pharmacists related to cannabis, analyze the data and construct a data-driven gap analysis for use by our partners who have a key role in the formulation of pharmacy continuous professional learning opportunities. This information will also be utilized to support the human-centered design process envisioned in our current CCSIF grant application. By knowing what education is available, and where there are gaps in the education of pharmacists, our co-creation process will be able to tailor ideas to fit in the identified gaps.