The 2022 Friend of Pharmacy Award winner is Candy-Lea Chickite, Project Analyst for First Nations Health Authority's (FNHA) First Nations Health Benefits and Services (FNHBS) department. British Columbia Pharmacy Association (BCPhA) offers the Friend of Pharmacy Award to a non-pharmacist who has worked with and promoted the value and role of pharmacists within the health-care team. This can include physicians, specialists, nurses, nurse practitioners, other health-care professionals, health authority officials, patients, decision-makers, community leaders, and other health-care organizations. Chickite is being recognized for her work at the FNHA, educating pharmacists about PharmaCare Plan W and culturally safe care provision along with her leadership in the Healthy Medication Use project.
Chickite is a member of the We Wai Kai First Nation, based on Quadra Island and Campbell River. She began her career at the FNHA in 2014. Over the course of her career, Chickite's work focuses on communicating knowledge about medication and enhancing the relationships between local pharmacies and First Nations communities. Since 2021, she has taken on a role as a Project Analyst for the FNHBS Pharmacy team. In this position, Chickite leads several initiatives under the Healthy Medication Use Project, including the Pharmacy Care initiative and
Medication Return Event Grant program.
Through the Pharmacy Care initiative, Chickite guides pharmacies in practicing culturally safe care, and works with First Nations communities to support them in understanding how to access pharmacy services and medication coverage when needed. In 2017, Chickite's work initially involved communicating the changes that were being made during the transition from Health Canada's Non-Insured Benefits Program (NIHB) to PharmaCare Plan W. Since then, she has worked with communities to support processes that increase access to health care such as: elders' access to the Shingrix Vaccine, helping individuals obtain over-the-counter medications for their minor ailments, and enhancing support for community members accessing treatments for opioid addictions. Chickite is also committed to increasing awareness and education around what pharmacists can do, such as resolving coverage issues, optimizing medication therapies through
an annual medication review and providing information and tips about medications.
Chickite's work on the FNHA's Medication Return Event Grant project has helped communities to safely dispose of expired medications. She has now seen over 20 communities receive medication return grants, including several communities that have reported their campaigns have safely removed over 75 pounds of expired and useable medications from their community to be disposed of in a safe manner. Chickite's efforts have been pivotal in developing and enhancing relationships between local pharmacies and First Nations communities.
