Childhood and Medicine Use in a Cross-cultural Perspective

Pharmaceuticals have emerged as an essential part of "health" in post-modern societies. Their cost is an important economic indicator and they are used both in the health service and in the home. This project examined medicine use in homes, outside the clinic and after medication had been purchased from a pharmacy. Children aged 7 to 12 were the main participants. Various reports examine the theoretical perspectives on childhood, children as social actors and the construction of illness; others discuss the health-care systems as the context in which the children (and adults) act; and finally the psychosociological perspectives of children's reporting of illness are discussed.
 
Pharmaceuticals have emerged as an essential part of "health" in post-modern societies. Their cost is an important economic indicator and they are used both in the health service and in the home. This project examined medicine use in homes, outside the clinic and after medication had been purchased from a pharmacy. Children aged 7 to 12 were the main participants. Various reports examine the theoretical perspectives on childhood, children as social actors and the construction of illness; others discuss the health-care systems as the context in which the children (and adults) act; and finally the psychosociological perspectives of children's reporting of illness are discussed.