DIY heart health: accounting for the 'use' of over-the-counter statins
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sussex
Department Name: Sch of Law, Politics and Sociology
Abstract
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Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Catherine Will (Principal Investigator) | |
| Kate Weiner (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Will C
(2014)
Do-it-yourself heart health? 'Lay' practices and products for disease prevention
in Health Sociology Review
Will CM
(2015)
The drugs don't sell: DIY heart health and the over-the-counter statin experience.
in Social science & medicine (1982)
Will CM
(2014)
Sustained multiplicity in everyday cholesterol reduction: repertoires and practices in talk about 'healthy living'.
in Sociology of health & illness
| Description | The research has generated significant findings about people's responses to the offer of preventive medication, whether that is framed as a consumer product or a prescription drug. We have explored the limits to the salience of both risk and health for ordinary people and their everyday practices, and furthered academic understanding of 'resistance' to medicine-taking. Using our case study, and a diverse set of respondents, we have been able to question the literature on self care, health behaviours and health identities, which often assumes that people will respond as individuals and with a mixture of anxiety and calculative approaches to preventing disease. We have analysed the ways in which responsibility for heart health is distributed in health care and in everyday practices, and sought to disseminate our findings to other researchers and healthcare practitioners through the outputs listed. Furthermore we have used our growing understanding of different forms of and approaches to the 'non-use' of medication to challenge ideas about the contribution of consumer demand to the pharmaceuticalisation of contemporary life. We have drawn attention to the limited appeal of over-the-counter statins and their very particular uses, and made comparisons with other prophylactic medication such as aspirin or the polypill. Finally we have sought to engage with methodological questions about the study of health identities and practices through championing recruitment outside the clinic and experiments with online recruitment, as well as object-centred interviewing. |
| Exploitation Route | We argued that there was a limited market for over the counter preventative drugs. People accepting statins for risk reduction put great emphasis on being told by their doctor that they need them. They do not have the same set of expectations for pharmacists. There is a large cholesterol reduction and heart health market, so people are prepared to spend money here. But the government should not expect prophylactic medication to be a successful way of reducing CVD risk in the population. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Healthcare,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Description | Dissemination event, Birmingham |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Dissemination event for academics, policy makers, commissioners, practitioners and patients: Preventing cardiovascular disease has become a major public health priority, with initiatives in place such as offering smoking cessation and 'health checks' for all those over 40 in primary care, and monitoring risk factors in this population. We organised this event in collaboration with Nicola Gale in the Centre for Leadership in Applied Health Care at University of Birmingham. The event was designed to ask: What role can sociological research play in improving the quality and effectiveness of such preventative services? The first day of the event was intended to disseminate findings on both patient and professional/organisational issues around preventive health. The second day was a specialist workshop for researchers in the field to discuss methodological issues in sociological research into CVD prevention. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Workshop contribution: Prevention Scripts: negotiating responsibility in cardiovascular prevention |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to event on GP and Ethics Public health and primary care : ethics on the front-line organised by London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Audience included many public health and primary care practitioners. We were invited to contribute chapter to edited collection but declined to pursue journal article. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | https://sites.google.com/site/generalandphethics/programme/draft-programme |