Living with psychotropic drugs: A community photovoice study in people with high treatment adherence in Southeastern Spain

Francisco Martínez-Granados; Erica Briones-Vozmediano; Elena Ronda

doi:10.18294/sc.2024.5090

Living with psychotropic drugs: A community photovoice study in people with high treatment adherence in Southeastern Spain

Francisco Martínez-Granados PhD in Health Sciences. Head of Pharmacy Unit. Centro psiquiátrico socio-asistencial Doctor Esquerdo, Alicante, Spain. , Erica Briones-Vozmediano PhD in Public Health. Associate Professor in the Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Nursing and Physiotherapy, Universidad de Lleida. Research Group in Health, Education and Culture (GESEC), Universidad de Lleida. Grup de Recerca en Cures en Salut (GRECS), Institut de Recerca Biomèdica (IRB), Lleida, Spain. , Elena Ronda PhD in Medicine. Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Area of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain. Area of Epidemiology and Public Health, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.

Received: 13 June 2024, Accepted: 10 September 2024, Published: 29 October 2024

https://doi.org/10.18294/sc.2024.5090

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Abstract

Adherence to psychopharmacological treatment essentially involves a process of meaning-making. The objective of this study was to explore the experience of people undergoing chronic psychiatric treatment from the patients’ perspective. In 2018, using the photovoice methodology, four sessions were conducted with the participation of 11 individuals from a community school in a socially marginalized neighborhood of a southeastern Spanish city, some of whom were also users of a social rehabilitation and integration center and a day center. Participants took and selected 41 photographs under the premise: “Photograph your experience regarding health and medication.” A categorization of the emerging narratives was carried out during a dialogical session between participants and researchers, which was recorded for subsequent transcription and analysis. The experiences were divided into two major symbolic themes that seek to give therapeutic meaning to medication: one of conflict and the other of motivation.

Keywords: Mental Health, Psychotropic Drugs, Medication Adherence, Community Mental Health Services, Spain

Categories: Drugs, Mental health, Psychoactive substances

Full-text of the article is available for this language: Español.

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