In any health care system, human resources for health that include pharmacists are central to complete success to health advancement. The basic reason for care by pharmacists can be found by the fact that medicines must be properly used in order to have their full beneficial therapeutic effect. To ensure access to and appropriate use of medicines with the ultimate aim of the well-being of the people, there is need of well trained and educated pharmacists with appropriate skills. To carry out above roles, pharmacists need to be trained on how to deal with patients’ behaviour and psychology. The methodology of the social sciences is needed to relate the medicine use to patients and to community.

What is social pharmacy?
Social pharmacy may be defined as the discipline dealing with the role of medicines from the social, scientific and humanistic perspectives. It draws on theories of the social and behavioural sciences, and includes health psychology. Social pharmacy can be considered to consist of all the social factors that influence medicine use, such as medicine-related beliefs, regulations, policy, attitudes, medicine information, ethics and behaviour. However, there have been several approaches for definition of social pharmacy by many authors and researchers. One group of authors have attempted to define a widely accepted term of social pharmacy as, “The endeavor to integrate drugs into a broader perspective and to include legal, ethical, economic, political, social, communicative, and psychological aspects into their evaluation in order to contribute to the safe and rational use of drugs” (Source: Schaefer, et al. J Soc Admin Pharm 1992; 9(4):141-148).

Social pharmacy research
Social pharmacy research is linked to the Health System or Service Research (HSR). The focus of HSR is concerned with improving the health of a community. The aim of HSR is to provide health managers at all levels, as well as community leaders, with the relevant information they need to make decisions about the problem they are facing. Therefore, it is concerned with both understanding and improving pharmacy practice and medicine use in a society. The research in social pharmacy is usually based on both quantitative (e.g. survey study) and qualitative methods such as interviews, observation and focus groups studies.  It is interesting to mention that research in social pharmacy in developing countries including India is often criticized as dubious research in pharmacy field by researchers mainly involved in experimental research. These perceptions are considered illogical by other school of social researchers. This group opines researching cost-effectiveness of available medicines (a field of social pharmacy) would be more relevant than their development in laboratory to improve the health of population. As far medicines are concerned, research is required to be conducted beyond the laboratory. Research in social, economic and policy aspects related to appropriate use of medicines can provide innovative methods and effective mechanisms to overcome determinants of health and pharmaceutical problems.

SOCIAL PHARMACY DEVELOPMENT AREAS
Journals

• Journal of Social and Administrative Pharmacy
• Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy
• Curriculum
• Teaching of social pharmacy is included in all pharmacy institutions of developed countries
• Research
• Social pharmacy is a growing area of research with the pharmacy institutions
• Discipline
• Social and Administrative Pharmacy is an important discipline of pharmacy education of many pharmacy institutions across the globe

Social pharmacy - current status in India

Over the last decades pharmacy curricula and training in the developed world have been changed by incorporating social pharmacy to provide pharmacy graduates with more opportunities that promote constant interaction with World Health Organisation has long believed that pharmacists would make a greater contribution to the provision of health care. The notion of social pharmacy, the key course that has rendered pharmacists of the developed nations to become front line pharmacists, is still unknown in most parts of the developing country including India. Overview on the recent literature on pharmacy education in India has shown that pharmacy practice and/or social pharmacy within pharmacy practice is the least developed sector of the pharmacy profession. It is interesting to mention that the recently introduced Pharm. D. curriculum does not specifically mention social pharmacy.

Conclusion
Social pharmacy enables the pharmacy profession to act and take responsibility in its full scope with the problems of pharmacy and medicines in society. What is the most appropriate treatment of an illness, in a cost effective way and with a safe medicine? The answers lie with social pharmacy research, training and teaching. Social pharmacy will play more crucial role in future pharmacy. In its attempts to restructure pharmacy practice in consonance with global role, pharmacy education in India had come as single roadblock. The need of the hour is a paradigm shift in the structure of pharmacy education. There is need to incorporate pharmaceutical sociology component in the current curriculum so that pharmacy graduates can fulfill professional obligations as a health care personnel. It is important all of us work together to make an attempt to develop curriculum in this area of research and teaching.

(Author is associate professor, Department of Pharmacy, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar 608 002, Tamil Nadu)