Ep 67 Jenny Kirschner

In this episode of the Pharmacy View Podcast, host Scott Carpenter, EVBC talks to Jenny Kirschner, Founder of Pharmacy Addressing Loneliness and Social-isolation (PALS) and National Health Services Pharmacist with a major Australian Pharmacy Group. With over 20 years of experience in the healthcare and pharmacy sector, Jenny brings much-needed insight into the overarching problem that loneliness has become, especially in the post Pandemic world, and talks about PALS, the first international network of individuals and organizations across the pharmacy industry that are passionate about addressing loneliness and social isolation to further improve the health outcomes of their patients and the wider community. Jenny has had a colorful career in Pharmacy, having started off in Retail Pharmacy and then moving on to working in Hospital Pharmacy and as a Clinical Pharmacist. Jenny has also worked as a health coach for lifestyle modification programs and is also a National Health Services Pharmacist delivering impactful and innovative health programs. All of this, in addition to being the founder of PALS. Jenny strongly believes that as Pharmacists, there is a need to develop skills to engage with people in a way that they are understood and helped, and motivated to change. If working across various roles in Pharmaceutical Industry wasn’t enough, Jenny also ventured into selling raw organic chocolates and organizing day dance parties for mothers. Jenny says that bringing people together in various ways has helped emphasize the importance of how social connections can help improve people’s health and well-being. Having researched the topic of loneliness for over a decade with an interest that really stemmed from Jenny’s personal experience, and then having lived through the Covid pandemic, they realized that there wasn’t enough understanding of what impact loneliness could have on the well-being of individuals and communities. What they realized was that Pharmacies, be it Hospital Pharmacies or Community Pharmacies, are critical access points to patients and it is Pharmacists’ professional responsibility to start to upskill themselves and learn about the signs of loneliness so they can start to recognize it in our patients and respond. So, Jenny formed PALS to: 1. Make the whole Pharmacy Industry understand what loneliness is 2. Ensure that Pharmacists understand that this is their responsibility as part of being a lifestyle Pharmacist Backed by research, Jenny says how loneliness can increase the risk of premature deaths by 26% and how a third of Australians report suffering from loneliness. In fact, Vivek Murthy compares loneliness to the Opioid Epidemic and the Obesity Crisis in the US. Jenny says that we aren’t talking about loneliness enough and that is exactly the problem PALS looks forward to solving. Further, Jenny adds how loneliness doesn’t just affect the elderly and that there is a loneliness to be experienced even in the workplace. Jenny hopes that PALS can serve as an educational tool in the first instance to make people look at the evidence and research to understand what loneliness is and start to embed screening tools and get referral pathways to different initiatives. When talking about technology, Jenny highlights the evolving nature of technology and how with that will change the ways in which people connect with one another. Note: Loneliness is a crisis and if you want to understand what it is, how it will impact your well-being, or simply want to help someone who is lonely, connect with Jenny. (The links are provided at the end of the show notes)