Creating a teachable moment in community pharmacy for men with prostate cancer: A qualitative study of lifestyle changes.

OBJECTIVE: It is well established that exercise and lifestyle behaviours improve menꞋs health outcomes from prostate cancer. With 3.8 million men living with the disease worldwide, the challenge is creating accessible intervention approaches that lead to sustainable lifestyle changes. We carried out a phase II feasibility study of a lifestyle intervention delivered by nine community pharmacies in the UK to inform a larger efficacy study. Qualitative interviews explored how men experienced the intervention and these data are presented here.

METHODS: Community pharmacies delivered a multi-component lifestyle intervention to 116 men with prostate cancer. The intervention included a health, strength and fitness assessment, immediate feedback, lifestyle prescription with telephone support and reassessment 12 weeks later. Three months after receiving the intervention, 33 participants took part in semi-structured telephone interviews.

RESULTS: Our framework analysis identified how a teachable moment can be created by a community pharmacy intervention. There was evidence of this when menꞋs self-perception was challenged and coupled to a positive interaction with a pharmacist. Our findings highlight the social context of behaviour change with men identifying how their lifestyle choices were negotiated within their household. There was a ripple effect as lifestyle behaviours made a positive impact on friends and family.

CONCLUSIONS: The teachable moment is not a serendipitous opportunity but can be created by an intervention. Our study adds insight into how community pharmacists can support cancer survivors to make positive lifestyle behaviour changes, and suggests a role for doing rather than just telling.