Giving It Your Best Shot: COVID 19 and Mental Health Issues in Pharmacy Practice
A GPhF free CPE webinar presented by PharmWell, A professional health & wellness program of the Georgia Pharmacy Foundation
Speaker: Merrill Norton, PharmD, DPh, ICCDP-D
Keeping yourself, your staff, and your patients mentally healthy during a national health crisis has its own unique set of stress points. Join Dr. Merrill Norton for this Georgia Pharmacy Foundation webinar and learn to recognize the warning signs of mental health problems, and steps you can take to care for patients, staff, and yourself during the COVID-19 pandemic.
UAN: 0142-0000-21-008-H04-P/T
CPE hours: 1.0
Activity type: Knowledge
Target Audience: Pharmacists, Pharmacy Techs
Registration fee: free
Learning Objectives for Pharmacists
At the completion of this activity, the participant will be able to:
- Describe the signs and symptoms of adverse mental health related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Discuss good practices that result in sustained, efficient, and equitable delivery of mental health care.
- Review strategies for coping with the stresses of the pandemic while assisting with patient care activities of COVID-19.
Learning Objectives for Pharmacy Techs
At the completion of this activity, the participant will be able to:
- List signs and symptoms of adverse mental health related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Describe the pharmacy technician’s role in helping with mental health-care delivery.
- Discuss strategies for coping with the stresses of the pandemic while assisting the pharmacy team with patient care activities of COVID-19.
Dr. Merrill Norton is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy with his specialty areas to include psychopharmacology and addiction pharmacy. He has also been a faculty member of the Fairleigh-Dickinson University Postdoctoral Training Program in the Masters of Psychopharmacology, Alliant International University of San Francisco College of Psychology, University of Georgia School of Continuing Education, and Berry College in the areas of Psychopharmacology and Addiction Pharmacy. His area of specialty in addiction pharmacy is the management of chronic pain in the addicted patient.
Recently, Dr. Norton received an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Southeastern Chapter for his work on the Spanish language documentary Prescription Drugs, Legally Dangerous. Another of Dr. Norton’s distinctions is he became one of the first of four inductees into the Georgia Addiction Counselors Association’s Hall of Fame by being presented with the Addiction Counselor Emeritus Award. The award honors Dr. Norton’s outstanding contributions over and above the call of duty in furthering the mission of GACA, advocating for clients suffering from substance use disorder, fostering relationships with professional organizations, providing quality care for clients, and upholding with integrity the highest standards of this organization. Dr. Norton’s national reputation as a counselor, pharmacist, educator, and author qualifies him uniquely for this prestigious distinction and that is why the GACA Board of Directors unanimously voted for Dr. Norton to be the first GACA counselor to be inducted to the GACA Hall of Fame. “Congratulations to one of the most respected individual working with substance use disorder clients-we are very grateful that you have provided the leadership and knowledge of how to manage a very difficult treatment population.”
His book, The Pharmacology of Psychoactive Chemical Use, Abuse, and Dependence, and his DVD series, “The Hijacking of the Brain” have been used to train thousands of mental health professionals nationally; they have become the standards of teaching excellence in the addiction treatment profession. His new books, The Pharmacology of Substance Use Disorders and The Practitioners’ Guide to Opioid Use Disorders were released in December 2018.
