Pharmacist Support, the profession’s independent charity, has launched a campaign to help students focus on their mental wellbeing, anxiety, and make them feel mentally prepared for their exams.
Backing the programme, the Pharmacists’ Defence Association has been encouraging pharmacy students to sign up for the Student charity’s ACTNow campaign, which has started running from Wednesday.
ACTNow is Pharmacist Support’s annual wellbeing campaign, which at key points throughout the year, focuses on the specific needs and issues for students, trainees and pharmacists.
The current campaign focusses on putting everyday wellbeing into practice and supporting students with university life, such as overcoming social anxiety, public speaking, and bullying. It encourages pharmacy students to allow time for wellbeing, consider the needs of others, and take action.
Pharmacy students will need to sign up to the campaign to make sure they receive all the free, dedicated wellbeing resources and event invitations.
Following the successful segmentation of its ACTNow campaign last year, targeting the wellbeing needs of each grouping in their pharmacy family (students, trainees and pharmacists), Pharmacist Support will again run three targeted wellbeing campaigns in 2022.
The first will focus on the issues experienced by pharmacy students, and centres around exam anxiety, social anxiety and bullying. This campaign which started on Wednesday March 30 will run for a week until April 6.
The second will be the charity’s Trainee ACTNow campaign that will focus on getting mentally prepared for the assessment and the transition to responsible pharmacist. This will run from Wednesday 25th May – 1st June.
The final instalment will be a pharmacist focused campaign that will kick off once again on World Pharmacists Day (September 25) and run for four weeks, ending on October 22.
“Our 2022 ACTNow campaigns will build on the success and momentum of the last two years,” commented Pharmacist Support chief executive Danielle Hunt.
“Whilst the campaigns main aim is to continue to raise the important issue of wellbeing and Pharmacist Support generally, this year it will broaden its focus on wellbeing in the workplace.
“In order to tackle some of the issues highlighted through our research around workplace culture and stigma, we feel it is important to look beyond what individuals can do, and towards what we can all do to create positive environments to allow people to thrive. In 2021 many across the sector took the first step and signed up to the RPS’s Wellbeing and Inclusion Pledge. Through this campaign, we want to further support orgnaisations to deliver on this commitment and embed wellbeing practices into the workplace and place of study by providing practical support.
“Our aspiration is to create a tidal wave of change to reverse the trends of high levels of burnout within the profession. We believe this will only be realised through collaborative working and commitment. We therefore would like to work collaboratively with as many organisations – universities, employers, managers and membership bodies – across the sector as possible.”
