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Multiple drug use by older people: exploring the health development and political economy perspectives
Author(s) -
LEGGE DAVID G.,
BAMMER GABRIELE
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
drug and alcohol review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.018
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1465-3362
pISSN - 0959-5236
DOI - 10.1080/09595239300185481
Subject(s) - falling (accident) , politics , quality of life (healthcare) , economic growth , older people , political science , sociology , criminology , psychology , public economics , gerontology , political economy , development economics , medicine , economics , psychiatry , nursing , law
The use of multiple medications by a large number of older people provides grounds for concern in terms of quality of life as well as cost. We argue that problems faced by older people are being over‐medicalized in a manner that palliates and obscures social causes such as loss of income, the falling away of social support and a discounted role in society. Primary health care is a policy model for the development of health services which offers a credible strategy for addressing clinical problems associated with growing old in ways that also contribute to recognizing and addressing social and structural problems that may be expressed in people's private troubles.