The new campaign will kick off on World Pharmacists Day (September 25) and run for five weeks, ending on October 29.

Each week will focus on one of the well-established five ways to wellbeing: “Be Active, Give, Take Notice, Keep Learning and Connect”, Pharmacist Support said in a statement on Tuesday (September 21).

With support from the Pharmacists’ Defence Association, Teva UK and Day Lewis Pharmacy, the charity will share information, resources and activities based around each of the five ways to wellbeing themes.

Activities will include live workouts and weekly panel chats that will look “at the science behind wellbeing and why it works”, Pharmacist Support said.

Wellbeing in the workplace

Pharmacist Support chief executive Danielle Hunt said the charity is going for a “more targeted approach” this year.

“Acting on campaign feedback, this year we’ve taken a more targeted approach, running three separate campaigns at relevant times of the year for each group in our pharmacy family – students, trainees and pharmacists,” Ms Hunt said.

The ACTNow campaign sheds lights on the support available to pharmacists, “including the charity’s new counselling service,” she said, as well as providing the tools to help pharmacy teams prioritise mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.

“The pandemic has piled additional pressures onto an already overstretched and burnt-out profession. Now more than ever, we feel we all need to work together to unpick the issues exposed over the past year and ensure that support is in place and accessible to all to help navigate our way out,” Ms Hunt added.

Peer support scheme for pharmacists

Pharmacist Support is also launching a new wellbeing learning platform and website, “enabling individuals to take control of their wellbeing journeys”, it said.

As part of the Give element of the campaign, the charity will be seeking to recruit individuals keen to volunteer for the peer support scheme Listening Friends, now in its 25^th year. The service offers individuals a chance to speak in confidence and anonymously with a fellow pharmacist about the stresses or pressures of working in the sector. 

Pharmacist Support launched its first ACTNow campaign in May last year, to support community pharmacists during the COVID-19 pandemic.