Our support services hear from people every day who are struggling to get the support they need for their migraine. We know that migraine is misunderstood and too often written off as ‘just a headache’ by many people and sadly even some health professionals – which is why we campaign to raise awareness of the true impacts of migraine and to challenge stigma.

Pharmacy plays a key role in supporting people with migraine – this includes those who are undiagnosed and seek over-the-counter treatments and people who are diagnosed and seeking support in managing their condition. In 2022 The Migraine Trust conducted a survey of 1,000 people living with migraine and pharmacies were the number one place people told us where they wanted to be able to receive more care.

We would like to see this role strengthened with additional training for pharmacists to enable them to take a more proactive role in supporting people with migraine to access the right treatments, avoid medication overuse headache, and recommend referral to their GP based on their symptoms.

Over the last two years we have been piloting a new approach to improve access to support and treatment from community pharmacy teams in Scotland. We worked with 50% of Health Boards and around 300 pharmacies, thanks to funding from the Scottish Government. We provided training, resources and patient-facing materials highlighting the role a pharmacist can play.

See the highlights from the pharmacy project

567 pharmacists engaged with the training through e-learning modules and 300 attended live training sessions. As a result we saw a 71% increase in clinicians who feel confident in assessing whether a person is presenting with migraine, and a 56.5% increase in those who feel confident in supplying medication for migraine. This clearly demonstrates the opportunity to improve pharmacist confidence with migraine management and public awareness of pharmacy as an option for migraine care. After attending a public webinar, 91% of the 900 attendees felt that attending the event improved their understanding, 76% said the event helped with their concerns and anxieties and 91% indicated they would now discuss migraine with a pharmacist.

With the current UK Government’s focus on moving care into the community where possible, empowering pharmacists with the latest information on migraine care and management could provide valuable support and advice to some people at the earliest opportunity. This year we will be working with pharmacy bodies to see how training and resources could be expanded and patients better supported by pharmacists across the UK.

Read the final project report on improving migraine care in pharmacy in Scotland

If you have experience being supported with your migraine by a pharmacist, or if you are a pharmacist who would like to find out more about our work, please contact campaigns@migrainetrust.org.