Merleau-Ponty innovated when giving primacy to the body and perception in his philosophical proposal. Within the field of health, his thinking gives us access to the knowledge gained from the corporeality of individuals with chronic diseases. The objective of this study was to expand the understanding of phenomena associated with the daily use of medication, which includes increasingly complex drug regimes, through the lens of Merleau-Ponty. To this end, we described the research steps anchored in his phenomenological philosophy and structured them in the form of a cascade, beginning with the definition of phenomenology as a new form of epistemology, existence as a paradigm, and the body as a theory. Furthermore, the methodology included the use of existential structures, namely, time, space, relationships with others, and sexuality, connected through the intentional arc to reach an understanding of the phenomenon of medication use.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to describe the process of implementation and systematization of a comprehensive medication management (CMM) service, from the perspective of the participants involved, in a high complexity service that cares for women with breast cancer in Brazil.Methods: A qualitative study that utilized action research that followed the procedures proposed by Kurt Lewin and the ethical and clinical principles of pharmaceutical care practice. Data collection techniques were participant observation between August 2014 and December 2016, semi-structured interviews with eight pharmacists and pharmacy residents, field notes, and analysis of documents.Results: Six major themes emerged in four cycles of the action research process: (1) Resistance is human; the management of conflict is necessary; (2) insecurity with being a clinician; (3) management of change supported by driving forces; (4) pharmaceutical care fostering professionals’ self-efficacy; (5) documentation as the conducting wire of the practice; and (6) the advantages of a systematized practice.Conclusion: The study offered an understanding of the process of implementation of CMM services from the perspective of pharmacists. It produced knowledge on the experiences of pharmacists as they lived through the process of transformation of their professional practice to offer a patient-centered and systematized service. The framework of Lewin supported the introduction of a new work path for pharmacists, which could be operationalized as an innovative technology for the Brazilian health-care system: CMM services.

Increased consumption of psychotropic drugs has been noted in Brazil and other Western countries in the last few decades for different reasons. The objective of this study was to understand the lived experience of individuals who used psychotropic drugs to cope with the problems faced in daily life. A qualitative study guided by hermeneutic phenomenology was carried out. In-depth interviews were conducted. The experience was grouped into two themes: experience of using psychotropic and the search for non-pharmacological approaches. Psychotropics were considered necessary for regaining a point of equilibrium when the problems faced were recognized as having a high degree of difficulty. In some cases, the drugs were perceived as insufficient for solving the problem, leading or not to the search for alternatives to deal with the difficulty.

The use of psychotropic drugs to treat problems of everyday life is a growing phenomenon in many countries. A systematic review was conducted as a method of synthesis of results of the qualitative primary studies developed to explore the perspective of health professionals and patients regarding the use of psychotropic drugs to overcome personal problems. This systematic review was conducted in the databases Medline (PubMed), Central (Cochrane), Psycoinfo and Lilacs, including gray literature and manual search (june/2015). We identified 581 publications that were evaluated in stages and 26 met the inclusion criteria with a total of 876 participants including health professionals and patients. The doctors showed empathy by prescribing. The health professionals-prescribers and non-prescribers-were concerned about the dependence of patients on the psychotropic and the pressure to prescribe. Patients felt unable to solve their problems and seek medications as a solution. The psychotropics were considered a useful resource to overcome the social problems, existing denial of its side effects as well as the lack of openness and access to other support mechanisms.

A inclusão dos cuidados em Saúde Mental na Atenção Primária tem ocorrido em diversos países, incluindo o Brasil, para suprir a existência de uma lacuna assistencial. A integração dos serviços é apontada como necessária, mas ao mesmo tempo um grande desafio. O objetivo deste estudo foi realizar a análise exploratória das práticas discursivas sobre o uso dos medicamentos psicotrópicos e das abordagens não farmacológicas para superação de eventos negativos da vida. As entrevistas realizadas com médicos que trabalham na saúde da família, sobre a prática clínica nos cuidados primários em saúde mental, compuseram o corpus da pesquisa. Os dados foram tratados a partir dos pressupostos da análise do discurso. As descrições analíticas foram construídas a partir dos enunciados identificados na formação discursiva da medicalização da vida. Os resultados da análise evidenciaram o pluralismo terapêutico dos psicotrópicos e seus efeitos, com o uso menos frequente das abordagens não farmacológicas; a prescrição exclui tramas sociais mais amplas, captura a potência da vida modulando os comportamentos individuais e coletivos, para que a convivência seja assegurada e legitimada, para garantir o pretenso bem comum.