Pharmacists regularly taking, recommending dietary supplements during COVID-19 pandemic, Pharmavite survey finds

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Pharmavite, maker of Nature Made and other supplement brands, is relaunching a health campaign it ran in 2020 to help healthcare workers achieve better self-care via dietary supplementation and other support services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the company initiated its Caring by Nature program, which provided nurse practitioners working on COVID frontlines with stress-reducing dietary supplements as well as educational resources and virtual yoga classes. In its 2021 iteration of the Caring by Nature, Pharmavite is focused on helping pharmacists achieve better self-care.

The company conducted a new survey online in April 2021 on 275 U.S. pharmacists which found that 62% of surveyed pharmacists reported working longer hours due to increased service demands during the pandemic. Up to 62% of the pharmacists surveyed said the longer work hours impede their self-care, and 30% said they felt they are now taking worse care of themselves compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dietary supplementation may play a helpful role. Pharmavite says 8 out of 10 pharmacists surveyed reported nevertheless maintaining their own daily vitamin supplementation routine; moreover, 75% said more patients have requested information about vitamins and dietary supplements during the pandemic. Up to 72% of pharmacists surveyed said they regularly recommend a daily vitamin to patients to maintain wellness, including multivitamins for overall health, vitamin D and calcium for bone support, and probiotics and fiber for digestive support.