IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/hepoli/v89y2009i1p14-25.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The symptom mitigation path of mobile community residents: Community pharmacy's role

Author

Listed:
  • Väänänen, Minna Heleena
  • Lyles, Alan
  • Airaksinen, Marja

Abstract

Objectives Most medical conditions that community residents experience are managed in that setting. Often this involves prescription and/or non-prescription medicines and a visit to a community pharmacy. This study explores actions taken by mobile community residents to seek relief from their symptoms and pharmacy's role in symptom mitigation.Methods Five focus group discussions (n = 30) of Finnish citizens living at least part of the year in Southern Spain were conducted. Both inductive and deductive methods were employed.Results Participants identified community pharmacies as a critical element of their symptom mitigation path--both because of easy access and free, fast service. According to participants' reports, both pharmacists and sales clerks (1) assumed responsibility for their symptoms and medications, (2) participated in diagnosing conditions and in prescription renewals, (3) both prescription and non-prescription medicines were dispensed and (4) some pharmacies dispensed prescription medications without a valid prescription. Many pharmacies offered medication counselling, but language barriers sometimes forced medicine users to rely on other Finns and written patient information leaflets.Conclusions Among mobile community residents, the pharmacy has a trusted role in managing symptoms and medications. However, several medication safety risks are present in the current pharmacy practice: unlicensed sales clerks participate in medication dispensing, prescription medicines may be sold without a prescription, and medication counselling is variable.

Suggested Citation

  • Väänänen, Minna Heleena & Lyles, Alan & Airaksinen, Marja, 2009. "The symptom mitigation path of mobile community residents: Community pharmacy's role," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 14-25, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:89:y:2009:i:1:p:14-25
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168-8510(08)00104-8
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hardon, Anita P., 1987. "The use of modern pharmaceuticals in a Filipino village: Doctors' prescription and self medication," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 277-292, January.
    2. Chris Bojke & Hugh Gravelle & Karen Hassell & Zoe Whittington, 2004. "Increasing patient choice in primary care: the management of minor ailments," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(1), pages 73-86, January.
    3. Price, Laurie J., 1989. "In the shadow of biomedicine: Self medication in two Ecuadorian pharmacies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 28(9), pages 905-915, January.
    4. Van Der Geest, Sjaak, 1987. "Self-care and the informal sale of drugs in South Cameroon," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 293-305, January.
    5. Vaananen, Minna Heleena & Pietila, Kirsi & Airaksinen, Marja, 2006. "Self-medication with antibiotics--Does it really happen in Europe?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(2), pages 166-171, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carla F. Rodrigues, 2020. "Self-medication with antibiotics in Maputo, Mozambique: practices, rationales and relationships," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Jiménez-Rubio, Dolores & Hernández-Quevedo, Cristina, 2010. "Explaining the demand for pharmaceuticals in Spain: Are there differences in drug consumption between foreigners and the Spanish population?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(2-3), pages 217-224, October.
    3. Felicia Robertson & Sverker C. Jagers & Björn Rönnerstrand, 2018. "Managing Sustainable Use of Antibiotics—The Role of Trust," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, January.
    4. Foster, S. D., 1990. "Improving the supply and use of essential drugs in sub-Saharan Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 456, The World Bank.
    5. Thomas Allen & Dorte Gyrd-Hansen & Søren Rud Kristensen & Anne Sophie Oxholm & Line Bjørnskov Pedersen & Mario Pezzino, 2022. "Physicians under Pressure: Evidence from Antibiotics Prescribing in England," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 42(3), pages 303-312, April.
    6. Marta Makowska & Rafał Boguszewski & Michał Nowakowski & Monika Podkowińska, 2020. "Self-Medication-Related Behaviors and Poland’s COVID-19 Lockdown," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-19, November.
    7. Chandler, Clare I.R. & Hall-Clifford, Rachel & Asaph, Turinde & Pascal, Magnussen & Clarke, Siân & Mbonye, Anthony K., 2011. "Introducing malaria rapid diagnostic tests at registered drug shops in Uganda: Limitations of diagnostic testing in the reality of diagnosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(6), pages 937-944, March.
    8. Edith Patouillard & Lesong Conteh & Jayne Webster & Margaret Kweku & Daniel Chandramohan & Brian Greenwood, 2011. "Coverage, Adherence and Costs of Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria in Children Employing Different Delivery Strategies in Jasikan, Ghana," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(11), pages 1-9, November.
    9. Markus Larsson & Karen Odberg Pettersson & John Kashiha & Michael W Ross & Anette Agardh, 2016. "Stretching the Boundaries: Tanzanian Pharmacy Workers’ Views and Experiences of Providing STI Services for Men Who Have Sex with Men," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(11), pages 1-22, November.
    10. Chinwoke Isiguzo & Jennifer Anyanti & Chinazo Ujuju & Ernest Nwokolo & Anna De La Cruz & Eric Schatzkin & Sepideh Modrek & Dominic Montagu & Jenny Liu, 2014. "Presumptive Treatment of Malaria from Formal and Informal Drug Vendors in Nigeria," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(10), pages 1-14, October.
    11. Mbonye, Anthony Kabanza & Neema, Stella & Magnussen, Pascal, 2006. "Perceptions on use of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in pregnancy and the policy implications for malaria control in Uganda," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 279-289, August.
    12. Rogozin, Dmitriy (Рогозин, Дмитрий), 2018. "Field Interviewer Profession [Профессия Полевой Интервьюер]," Working Papers 051809, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
    13. Paudyal, Vibhu & Hansford, Denise & Cunningham, Scott & Stewart, Derek, 2011. "Pharmacy assisted patient self care of minor ailments: A chronological review of UK health policy documents and key events 1997-2010," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 253-259, August.
    14. Baxerres, Carine & Le Hesran, Jean-Yves, 2011. "Where do pharmaceuticals on the market originate? An analysis of the informal drug supply in Cotonou, Benin," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(8), pages 1249-1256.
    15. Francesco Napolitano & Maria Teresa Izzo & Gabriella Di Giuseppe & Italo F Angelillo, 2013. "Public Knowledge, Attitudes, and Experience Regarding the Use of Antibiotics in Italy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(12), pages 1-6, December.
    16. Wang, Xiaomin & Xuan, Ziming & Storella, Théo H. & Zhou, Xudong, 2020. "Determinants of non-prescription antibiotic dispensing in Chinese community pharmacies from socio-ecological and health system perspectives," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    17. Leonard, Lori, 2005. "Where there is no state: household strategies for the management of illness in Chad," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 229-243, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:89:y:2009:i:1:p:14-25. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu or the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/healthpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.