“Looking out for each other”: a qualitative study on the role of social network interactions in asthma management among adult Latino patients presenting to an emergency department

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify the types of interactions between asthma patients and their social networks such as close family and friends that influence the management of asthma. Methods Participants were Latino adults presenting for a repeat visit to the emergency department for asthma treatment. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 76 participants. They were asked to describe the experiences of their social networks that have asthma and how interactions with these individuals influenced their own asthma management. Responses were transcribed and analyzed using Grounded Theory as a qualitative analytic approach. Responses were assigned codes; similar codes were grouped into concepts and then categorized to form overarching themes. Results Four themes emerged: 1) Perceptions of severity of asthma may be based on the experiences of social networks; 2) Economic factors may contribute to the sharing and borrowing of asthma medications between patients and their social networks; 3) Economic factors may contribute to using home remedies instead of prescribed medications; 4) Social network members may be unaware of the factors that trigger asthma and therefore, contribute to asthma exacerbations. Conclusion This study identified important social network interactions that may impact asthma management in Latino adults. These results can be used to broaden the current focus of asthma self-management programs to incorporate discussions on the role of social networks. A focus on social network interactions addresses the social epidemiology of asthma and advances our understanding of root causes that may underlie the high prevalence of asthma in many Latino communities.

A qualitative exploration of healthcare providers’ perspectives on patients’ non‐recreational, prescription medicines sharing behaviours

“…Perhaps, unsurprisingly, participants in our study mentioned a number of influences on patient prescription medicine‐sharing behaviours that could be considered to be cultural factors in the broadest sense, if culture is accepted to include such concepts as ethnicity, geographic location, language and socioeconomic status. These influences have also been reported by others . As noted by Marrone, even if the patient and healthcare provider speak the same language, the experiences and cultural affiliations of the patient may influence their decisions to seek health services, and hence may also influence procurement of medicines.…”

“…Participants also discussed altruistic reasons for sharing medicines, a finding reported by others where medicine lending and borrowing practices were seen by patients as ‘a way of looking out for each other’, particularly when one cannot afford the cost of medicines or a visit to the doctor. Generally, medicine sharing among patients has been described as a means of expressing a caring relationship or providing social support for loved ones during illness or when medicines are unavailable …”

“…In addition, some of the surveys used similar lists, which may have constrained the emergence of any new data around other reasons and the collection of richer explanations for sharing. Only a limited number of qualitative studies exist …”

“…Only a limited number of qualitative studies exist. [16][17][18] Furthermore, studies of non-recreational sharing have focused on patients' perspectives of sharing medicines, and healthcare providers' perspectives on the issue have rarely been explored. The importance of understanding patients' views is not in question, and we have previously reported a qualitative study which explored patients' perspectives on medicine sharing.…”

Prevalence and predictors of medicine saving and future prescription medicine sharing: findings from a New Zealand online survey

“…[1,2] In community surveys of adults in developed countries, the prevalence of medicine lending or borrowing has been estimated to be between 16% and 34%. [1][2][3][4] Reasons for sharing medicines usually include running out of supplies, [1,2,[4][5][6] limited access to medical care, [6,7] emergency situations, [1,4,6] wanting to help family and friends during illness, [6,8] to avoid healthcare costs [4,6,[9][10][11] or just for convenience. [4,6] Some medicine sharing literature [15][16][17][18] and is not the focus of this research.…”