Understanding the meanings of the interactions between health care professionals and elderly users of the medicine

Abstract

The present work aims at understanding and analyzing the meanings of the interactions between health care professionals (doctors and pharmacists) and elderly with chronic heath conditions, in the perspective of the medicine users. The study was carried out a primary healthcare unit in Ribeirão Preto (SP), Brazil, in August 2003. This secondary analysis had as referencial the Symbolic Interacionism and the data of the recorded interviews, in the original work, had been submitted to the thematic analysis of content. The subjects that had emerged demonstrate that symbolic ambivalence of the interactions allows diverse interpretations that go since the distance and the lack of confidence until the liberty of speech and the dialogue with the health care professionals. Understanding such interactions can be basic to improve the agreement of the process health-illness, to optimize the cares to the health and to guarantee the rational use of medicines.