Women Who are Older and Access to Medication Information

Abstract

Concern regarding a lack of research into the experiences with medication of women who are older, led to the development of a three stage project to investigate this topic. Stage 1 (reported here) interviewed mobile, independently living women of 60 years and over in two community settings in Adelaide, in order to gain their stories regarding access to medication information, relationships with health professionals, self perceptions of well-being and social networks. Half of the 40 women interviewed had sought information regarding their medication from doctors or pharmacists and it was evident that some women made their own independent decisions regarding the taking of prescribed medication. Despite some fairly debilitating health conditions, all women referred very positively to both perceived well-being and active social networks. Some preliminary suggestions are made regarding improved access to information for these women.