Care in the air? Atmospheres of care in Swedish pharmacies

Abstract

This article builds upon literature on materialities of care and departs from a relational view of care and place. Using the concept of atmosphere, it investigates how care practices are situated spatially and temporally in pharmacies. In many countries, pharmacies are viewed as an important sector in formal healthcare systems. Rarely discussed in pharmacy literature is the affective and embodied aspect of care and care services. Drawing on an ethnographic study of Swedish pharmacies, I demonstrate that pharmaceutical care services are more than filling prescriptions and giving medical advice. Senses of care are partly accomplished through pharmacy staff's routinized and embodied engagement with the material environment. They also are performed through staff's tacit reading of customers. This article argues for an alternative understanding of care than an institutionally scripted one.