Podium Presentation - 10 minutes International Positive Psychology Association 7th IPPA World Congress 2021

The Evaluation of ‘Prescribing Happiness’ a Community Pharmacy Based Positive Psychology Intervention (#17)

Jennifer Ward 1 , Alison Sparkes 2 , Paul Hewlett 1 , Amie-Louise Prior 1 , Delyth James 1
  1. Cardiff Metropolitan University , Cardiff , Wales
  2. The Health Dispensary , Neath , Wales

In the UK, Community pharmacies have been recognised as being easily accessible and positive settings to implement public health interventions [1,2]. This submission aims to present the findings from ‘Prescribing Happiness’ (P-Hap) a PPI implemented and evaluated in a community pharmacy in Wales. The Medical Research Council (MRC) framework for complex interventions underpinned the basis of the study design [3,4]. The MRC framework is composed of four phases; (1) Development, (2) Feasibility and Piloting, (3) Evaluation and (4) Implementation. Phases 1 and 2 were completed earlier in this programme of work which resulted in the development of P-Hap, a six-week one-to-one PPI underpinned by PERMA [5]. P-Hap was delivered to community members (n=21) who were recruited via email, posters or word of mouth. A mixed methods evaluation was conducted to compare baseline (T1), post-intervention (T2) and two-weeks post-intervention (T3) utilising satisfaction with life (SWLS) and subjective happiness (SHS) measurements. One-way repeated ANOVAs were run to measure the effect of time on wellbeing and happiness. A semi-structured interview was conducted at T3 to capture participants’ perspectives on the intervention. Interviews were audio-recorded and analysed using thematic analysis. Results revealed that for SHS, there was an effect of Time (F1.338,10= 15.7, p=.001), where post hoc analyses using a Bonferroni correction showed that scores T3 were higher than scores at T1 (p=.003). For SWLS, there was an effect of Time (F1. 148, 15.0= 29.002, p=.000), where post hoc analyses using a Bonferroni correction showed that scores Time 3 were higher than scores at Time 1 (p=.000). Four main themes emerged from the findings, (1) Physical Factors supporting engagement, (2) Phases of Psychological Engagement, (3) Wellbeing Facilitator Delivery Role and (4) Impact of the Course, with sub-themes. This talk will discuss the results and their implications for community and wider PPI research.

  1. 1.Welsh Pharmaceutical Committee. (2019). Pharmacy: Delivering a Healthier Wales. Retrieved from https://www.rpharms.com/Portals/0/RPS%20document%20library/Open%20access/Policy/Pharmacy%20Vision%20English.pdf?ver=2019-05-21-152234-477 Date accessed 12th October 2020
  2. 2. Future Generations Commissioner for Wales. (2017). Annual Report 2017-2018. Retrieved 26 July 2019 from https://futuregenerations.wales/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Draft-Strategic-Plan-ENG-1.pdf Date accessed 22th October 2020
  3. 3. Craig, P., Dieppe, P., Macintyre, S., Mitchie, S., Nazareth, I., & Petticrew, M. (2008). Developing and evaluating complex interventions: The new Medical Research Council guidance. Bmj, 337(7676), 979–983. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.a1655
  4. 4.Craig, P., Dieooe, P., Macintyre, S., Michie, S., Nazareth, I., & Petticrew, M. (2019). Developing and evaluating complex interventions: Following considerable development in the field since 2006, MRC and NIHR have jointly commissioned an update of this guidance to be published in 2019. Medical Research Council, 1–39. Retrieved from https://mrc.ukri.org/documents/pdf/complex-interventions-guidance/ Date accessed 1st September 2020
  5. 5. Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish. London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing
  • Keywords: Health and Medicine, Positive emotions, Public Policy and Civic Engagement, Relationships, Strengths