Care in the air? Atmospheres of care in Swedish pharmacies

Abstract

This article builds upon literature on materialities of care and departs from a relational view of care and place. Using the concept of atmosphere, it investigates how care practices are situated spatially and temporally in pharmacies. In many countries, pharmacies are viewed as an important sector in formal healthcare systems. Rarely discussed in pharmacy literature is the affective and embodied aspect of care and care services. Drawing on an ethnographic study of Swedish pharmacies, I demonstrate that pharmaceutical care services are more than filling prescriptions and giving medical advice. Senses of care are partly accomplished through pharmacy staff's routinized and embodied engagement with the material environment. They also are performed through staff's tacit reading of customers. This article argues for an alternative understanding of care than an institutionally scripted one.

Cardiovascular Disease-Related Health Promotion and Prevention Services by Pharmacists in Saudi Arabia: How Well Are They Prepared?

“…It is therefore important to overcome all the barriers for the better involvement of pharmacists and build public acceptability for pharmacy services in CVD-related health-promotion activities. The Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia, should ensure the availability of CVDrelated educational materials, current guidelines, and tools in pharmacies to tailor patient care pathways [35]. The lack of privacy/space barrier can be overcome by insisting that pharmacies have a private or semiprivate counseling area.…”