Between routines and risks. A cultural analysis of older people’s use of medications

Abstract

This study aims to explore the meaning that is created when using medicines, and how medicines affect older people’s experiences of everyday life and their identity. The connection between medicines and the body demonstrates the tension that the medications contain; something dangerous and unsafe but with the power to cure and prevent illness. The risks of medications seem to be counteracted through the domestication of the medicines through everyday routines. The result of the study shows the ambivalence in the interaction between older people and their medicines; a constant balancing act between the medication as routine and risk.