Medication Information Seeking Behavior in a Social Context: The Role of Lay and Professional Social Network Contacts

This study provided a view of the social context of medication information seeking from a patient’s perspective.This was an exploratory qualitative study with 40 adults to determine how patients communicate within social networks to seek medication information. Semi-structured interviews were used to determine the structure (who), the content provided (what), and the function of social sources of information (how/why). Data underwent ethnographic content analysis using theory and prior research driven themes. Coding matrices were created to identify emerging patterns for who supplied what information and how the information was used. Participants described seeking medication information from health professional or lay social network sources. Health professional sources’ strongest role was to provide factual information. In contrast, lay sources provided factual information and affective information such as personal experiences and beliefs or attitudes. Information sought from social sources displayed similar functioning roles in terms of how the information was used by the participants seeking the information. The study concluded that medication information is sought from social sources both inside and outside of healthcare. Emerging patterns found that lay sources may provide patients more than affective information about medications. Further, patients may be receiving factually based information other than from health professionals. By coming to a more complete understanding of the social nature of the information environment, health professionals can better understand information needs from a patient’s perspective

Science, Innovation, and Innovation in the Science of Pharmacy

Type: Invitatio

Antidepressant Use Amongst College Students: Findings of a Phenomenological Study

Background: Depression among college students is an escalating problem and could have serious consequences such as suicide. There has been an increase in use of antidepressants on college campuses in United States. However, an in depth understanding of this phenomenon from the college student’s perspective is lacking in the literature. Objective: This study examined college students’ experiences and treatment decision making during their depression treatment. Methods: A longitudinal, phenomenological research methodology was completed. The participants were nine students who were taking antidepressants for diagnosis of depression. Recruitment was done via brochures placed at University bulletin boards, and a mental health clinic. Three audio taped, unstructured interviews were conducted with each participant over four months. The central question asked was: What has the experience of treating depression been for you? Analysis of text was done using Van Manen’s lifeworld existentials of lived body, lived time, lived relation and lived space as the organizing framework. Results: Thirteen themes were identified within the four lifeworlds. The results showed that lived relation with providers was important for college students’ decision to both initiate and continue antidepressant use. Students’ role was defined in conjunction with provider’s role by them as wanting to be a ‘player’ in their treatment decisions and needing to be ‘acknowledged’ as such by their providers. Conclusions: Overall, the underlying essential theme of ‘autonomy’ was portrayed by the students’ experiential accounts of their depression treatment and treatment decision making