Browsing by Author "Rodrigues, Carla"
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- Medication literacy and its social contextualityPublication . Lopes, Noémia; Rodrigues, Carla; Pegado, ElsaThis article aims to contribute to the discussion about medication literacy, by focussing on the social contextuality of the information mobilised in the use of medicines. We aim to explore the social construction processes of medication literacy, as an essential dimension for a more layperson-centred approach in the promotion of literacy in this field. This approach is justified by the growing social and cultural dissemination of medication use, the diversification of its uses beyond health and illness, and the increasing degree of lay autonomy in managing its use. The article is organised in two main sections. In the first section, we review the social history of medication literacy, including a discussion of the social contextuality of literacy phenomena. In the second section, the analysis of social contextuality is operationalised with a focus on information, covering: (i) ways of relating to institutional information and sources of information about medication; (ii) contexts of sociability in which information is shared and validated. This analysis is empirically supported by selected results from two research projects, conducted in Portugal, on the consumption of medicines and dietary supplements for performance purposes – that is, for the management and/or improvement of cognitive, bodily or relational performance.
- Medication use for the management of professional performance : between invisibility and social normalisationPublication . Lopes, Noémia; Tavares, David; Pegado, Elsa; Raposo, Hélder; Rodrigues, CarlaThis article aims to explore pharmaceuticalisation processes in professional work contexts. The approach focuses on identifying patterns of medicine and dietary supplement use for managing work performance, and on discussing the relationship between these consumption practices and work-related pressure factors. This analysis adapts the notions of ‘normalisation’ to understand the extent of cultural acceptability of these practices, and the notion of ‘differentiated normalisation’ to capture the tension between the trend towards normalisation of such consumption and its partial social (in)visibility within work settings. Empirical support for this analysis is based on a sociological study conducted in Portugal on professions under high performance pressures. The study involved three professional groups – nurses, journalists and police officers. A mixed methods approach was used, including focus groups, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Overall, the results show a trend towards the use of medicines and supplements for performance management, which reveals itself as a cultural response to work-related social pressures. Such consumption coexists with irregular patterns of either occasional or long-term use, as well as heterogeneous processes of ‘normalisation’ and ‘hidden’ consumption. Conclusions point to a social interconnection between the intensification of work pressures and the pharmaceuticalisation of work performance.
- Medications, youth therapeutic cultures and performance consumptions: a sociological approachPublication . Lopes, Noémia; Clamote, Telmo; Raposo, Hélder; Pegado, Elsa; Rodrigues, Carla"This article analyses performance consumptions among young people. The theme is explored along two main axes. The first concerns the social heterogeneity in this field, considered on two levels: the different purposes for those investments – cognitive/mental and physical performance; and the different social contexts – university and work – where performance practices and dispositions may be fostered. The second axis explores the roles of pharmacological and natural consumptions, and their interrelationship, in the dissemination of these practices. The empirical data for this analysis were drawn from an ongoing research project on performance consumptions among young people (aged 18−29 years) in Portugal, including both university students and young workers without university education. The results correspond to the stage of extensive research, for which a questionnaire was organised at a national level, using non-proportional quota sampling. On the one hand, they show that (a) there is a hierarchy of acceptance of consumptions according to their purposes, with cognitive/mental performance showing higher acceptance and (b) both pharmaceuticals and natural products are consumed for every type of performance investment. On the other, the comparison between students and workers introduces a certain heterogeneity in this general backdrop, both in terms of the purposes for their consumptions and their opting for natural or pharmacological resources. These threads of heterogeneity will prompt a discussion of the dynamics of pharmaceuticalisation within the field of performance, in particular how therapeutic cultures may be changing in terms of the way individuals relate to medications, expanding their uses in social life."
- Medicines and medication literacy : social practices and use of informationPublication . Lopes, Noémia; Pegado, Elsa; Egreja, Catarina; Rodrigues, Carla; Fernandes, Ana IsabelThis article discusses results from a sociological study on (i) the sources and use of information on medicines and/or supplements and (ii) the self-assessment of how informed participants were about the last medicine or supplement they purchased. It seeks to demonstrate the plurality of information sources (expert and lay) that individuals call upon—with which they build up their medication literacy—and their perception of the information they have. While these social components of literacy are scarcely visible in available studies, the need to produce knowledge on them is a requisite for a more laypeople-centred approach in public policies seeking to promote medication literacy. A questionnaire was applied in-person (n = 1107) in urban pharmacies in Lisbon and Porto (Portugal). Results show expert information (medical and pharmaceutical) as the dominant reference, followed by lay sources (family/friends/colleagues), while digital sources were less valued than interpersonal ones. This interpersonal dimension was a relevant factor in the building of trust in information. The self-assessment of the information on medication was higher in functional literacy and lower in comprehensive literacy. Studies on medication literacy are particularly relevant in the current context of the expansion and diversification of medicines’ use and of individuals’ growing autonomy in their consumption habits.
- Precauções básicas de controlo de infeção na sala de hemodiálise :Publication . Rodrigues, Carla; Novais, Maria EuláliaAs Infeções Associadas aos Cuidados de Saúde (IACS) são uma causa significativa de mortalidade e morbilidade, bem como de encargos financeiros avultados para o sistema de saúde (OMS, 2011). Segundo a Direção Geral de Saúde (DGS) (2013) a taxa de infeção hospitalar em Portugal é mais elevada do que a média europeia. As infeções, no doente em programa de hemodiálise, representam um aumento da morbilidade com consequentes internamentos e administração de antimicrobianos, bem como o risco de aparecimento de microrganismos multirresistentes (Pina, 2010b). As normas para as Precauções Básicas para o Controlo de Infeção (PBCI) têm como objetivo travar a transmissão cruzada e de diminuir a ocorrência de IACS (DGS, 2013). Estas são de conhecimento dos profissionais de saúde, não obstante, a sua adesão não é a espectável (Chenoweth, 2015; Silva, 2013). Alguns trabalhos têm demonstrado que é essencial uma educação contínua resultante de momentos de formação formal e informal, sob uma abordagem critica reflexiva, promovendo assim, a transformação dos profissionais de saúde na sua prática. Este trabalho tem como objetivo a melhoria da qualidade dos cuidados à pessoa em programa de hemodiálise (HD) numa unidade periférica, relacionados com a aplicação das PBCI. Deste modo, pretende-se proporcionar a base de evidência científica e aumentar a adesão às normas instituídas na unidade e pela DGS, através da realização de um projeto de melhoria da qualidade. Foram realizadas formações, disponibilizada a informação e auditorias à adesão dos profissionais e à qualidade da instituição para a aplicação das PBCI. O índice de qualidade da unidade ao nível da estrutura foi de 82,3%, a nível dos processos de trabalho foi de 91,4% e, o risco associado à realização de procedimentos com risco acrescido de exposição a agentes transmissíveis de 28,8%. Nas auditorias realizadas à higienização das mãos, nos cinco momentos, os técnicos de HD apresentam uma adesão de 70%, os enfermeiros de 65,5%, os auxiliares de limpeza de 40% e os médicos de 35,14%. Os enfermeiros são os profissionais com o maior número de oportunidades.
- The uses of coffee in highly demanding work contexts: managing rhythms, sleep, and performancePublication . Pegado, Elsa; Rodrigues, Carla; Raposo, Hélder; Fernandes, Ana I.This paper presents a sociological approach to coffee consumption as a performance management strategy in work contexts, particularly in professions with intense work rhythms and highly responsive demands. Focusing on the daily work of three professional groups (nurses, police officers, and journalists), we analyze the social expression of coffee and how it is mobilized to deal with sleep problems, fatigue, concentration, or stress. For this purpose, three intertwined dimensions are explored: (1) the nature of these professionals’ work and the pressures for certain forms and levels of performance; (2) sleep problems as both a result of those work characteristics and a constraint on performance; and (3) the role of coffee in managing professional imperatives. The use of coffee appears as a legitimate practice in everyday working routines, due to its socializing markers, whereas additional benefits are attributed to the pharmacological properties of caffeine, given the perceived improvement in performance. The empirical data derive from a study carried out in Portugal on the use of medicines and food supplements for performance management, following a mixed methods approach. In particular, data from a questionnaire survey in a sample of 539 workers and information collected through seven focus groups with a total of 33 participants were used.