Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The disparities and risk trajectories experienced by people who use drugs (PWUD) highlight the critical need for equity-oriented strategies. Pharmacy staff (pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and assistants) make essential contributions to public health, and their role in the response to the drug overdose crisis can be understood as an extension of their public health role. Their involvement in overdose prevention strategies, such as take-home naloxone programmes and prescribed opioid medication management, has been documented. Still, their role in harm reduction services for PWUD has yet to be mapped. This gap has led to challenges when implementing harm reduction services in pharmacy-related settings. This review aims to summarise literature that focuses on the implementation of harm reduction services for PWUD provided by pharmacy staff. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This scoping review will adhere to the Arksey and O'Malley framework for conducting scoping reviews. The electronic databases MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science Core Collection, SCOPUS and Google Scholar were searched on 4 June 2024, using terms related to pharmacy staff, PWUD and harm reduction services. This review will consider peer-reviewed literature in English, Spanish and French focused on describing or evaluating the implementation of harm reduction services for PWUD by pharmacy staff. Two independent reviewers will screen titles and abstracts and conduct the full-text screening to determine eligibility. Findings will be presented as a narrative summary and supported by tabular and graphical formats. Knowledge partner engagement will guide all steps in this study. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Formal ethical approval is not required, as primary human or animal data will not be collected. A manuscript summarising the results will be written and submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. Other outlets for dissemination will include local presentations and conference presentations. TRIAL REGISTRATION DETAILS: Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/vn6ht).