Narratives about illness and medication: a neglected theme/new methodology within pharmacy practice research. Part II: medication narratives in practice

Aim:
Part 2 of this paper aims to provide a methodological framework for the study of medication narratives, including a semi-structured interview guide and suggested method of analysis, in an attempt to aid the development of narrative scholarship within pharmacy practice research. Examples of medication narratives are provided to illustrate their diversity and usefulness.

Methods:
The framework is derived from the work of other researchers and adapted for our specific purpose. It comes from social psychology, narrative psychology, narrative anthropology, sociology and critical theory and fits within the social constructionist paradigm. The suggested methods of analysis could broadly be described as narrative analysis and discourse analysis. Examples of medication narratives are chosen from a variety of sources and brief interpretations are presented by way of illustration.

Conclusion:
Narrative analysis, a neglected area of research in pharmacy practice, has the potential to provide new understanding about how people relate to their medicines, how pharmacists are engaged in producing narratives and the importance of narrative in the education of students.