Evidence mapPaperPMID 40022158Full record

SynthesisInternational journal for equity in health2025

The impact of interprofessional collaboration between pharmacists and community health workers on medication adherence: a systematic review.

Carole Bandiera, Ricki Ng, Sabuj Kanti Mistry, Elizabeth Harris, Mark F Harris, Parisa Aslani

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in International journal for equity in health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Community Health Workers' and Pharmacists' Perspectives of a CHW-Pharmacist Collaboration Model to Support Medication Adherence.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Carole BandieraSchool of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. carole.bandiera@sydney.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9996-3100
Ricki NgSchool of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Sabuj Kanti MistrySchool of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Elizabeth HarrisInternational Centre for Future Health Systems, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Mark F HarrisInternational Centre for Future Health Systems, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Parisa AslaniSchool of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.

Funding

Swiss National Science Foundation Postdoc.Mobility Grant P500PM_217609
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is increasing evidence to support the effectiveness of interventions involving community health workers (CHWs) in improving patient health outcomes, which reinforces their growing integration in healthcare teams. However, little is known about the interprofessional collaboration between pharmacists and CHWs. This systematic review aimed to explore the impact of interprofessional interventions involving pharmacists and CHWs on patient medication adherence.

methodsThe English language scientific literature published in Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science, CINAHL, Scopus, plus the grey literature were searched in October 2024. Using the software Covidence, two authors screened article titles and abstracts and assessed full-text articles for eligibility. Studies were included if (i) the intervention was delivered by pharmacists and CHWs and (ii) reported on medication adherence outcomes. Data were extracted using a customized template using Excel and synthetized narratively. The Effective Public Health Practice Project quality assessment tool was used to assess the studies' methodological quality.

resultsEight studies met the inclusion criteria, including a total of 1577 participants. Seven studies were conducted in the United States, and six were published since 2020. The interventions consisted of medication therapy management, medication reconciliation, and repeated education sessions. The CHW shared clinical and non-clinical patient information and ensured a culturally safe environment while the pharmacist delivered the clinical intervention. In five studies, medication adherence was evaluated solely through patient self-reported measures. One study used an objective measure (i.e., pharmacy refill records) to evaluate medication adherence. Only two studies assessed medication adherence using both self-reported and objective measures (i.e., pill count and proportion of days covered). A significant improvement in medication adherence was observed in three of the eight studies. Half of the studies were of weak quality and half of moderate quality.

conclusionsThere was a small number of studies identified which focused on the impact of interprofessional collaboration between pharmacists and CHWs on medication adherence. The impact of the interprofessional interventions on medication adherence was limited. Further studies of higher quality are needed to better evaluate the impact of such collaboration on patient health outcomes. REGISTRATION: PROSPERO, ID CRD42024526969.

Indexed as

Community Health WorkersCooperative BehaviorInterprofessional RelationsMedication AdherencePharmacistsHumansCommunity health navigatorsCommunity health workersComplianceHealth coachesInterprofessional collaborationMedication adherenceMultidisciplinary healthcare teamsNavigatorsPharmacistsPromotoras

Identifiers

PMID40022158
PMCPMC11869407

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.