Galkin K.A. Medical practices and agency of elderly people with chronic diseases in rural areas. Bulletin of the Nizhny Novgorod University named after N.I. Lobachevsky. Series: Social Sciences. 2021. No. 3 (63). Pp. 95-101. DOI 10.52452 ...

Текст статьи на сайте журнала URL: http://www.unn.ru/pages/e-library/vestnik_soc/18115942_2021_-_3(63)_unicode/12.pdf (дата обращения 15.11.2021)

Abstract

The life of an elderly person, for a number of reasons due to age, is often more dependent on medications, and the availability of medications may be necessary for continuous preventive treatment of the disease or to maintain their well-being. Chronic illness creates special drug regimens, and an individual's daily routine can change significantly. At the same time, the experience of a chronic disease is associated with prescribed medications that are prescribed by a doctor, and patients are often forced to fulfill the conditions of appointment and take the necessary medications, which often limits the agency of an elderly person. Life in rural areas increases the monopoly of doctors (there are no doctors other than a doctor in an outpatient clinic) who prescribe medicines, causes difficulties related to the geographical distance and availability of medicines, and the availability of pharmacies with the necessary medicines. Medications are rarely analyzed sociologically and using sociological methods. This article attempts to analyze the practice of taking medications by older people using sociological methods. The paper analyzes the daily practices of taking medications by elderly people using sociological methods and sociological optics of explanation. The article examines how and under what conditions the Agency of elderly people with chronic diseases is formed in rural areas through drug administration practices. Under the agency of older people in the article is understood independence of choice and the ability to choose the necessary drug for the treatment of the disease. The empirical base of the study consists of 25 biographical interviews (n=25) with elderly people with chronic diseases and various disability groups living in the Leningrad region. The informants are 65–88 years old