Medicines and the maintenance of ordinariness in the household management of childhood asthma

This paper applies and extends the 'adaption' perspective on chronic illnes s by arguing that, in the case of moderate childhood asthma, an important a spect of the process may be found in the ways in which children and parents construct a sense of their ordinariness. It is suggested that medicines ma y play a role in this process. Reporting an intensive and detailed qualitat ive study of the management strategies of nine English families, it is show n that household members did not generally regard asthma as a major problem . Regular medication, usually in the form of inhaled drugs, was their main response. Few other strategies were followed and little attention was paid to the non-medicinal preventive actions recommended in asthma management gu idelines and educational material. Parents' and children's accounts suggest that they were involved not only in managing a disease but also in maintai ning a sense of their own ordinariness. Paradoxically, medicines, especiall y inhalers, were the main resource for accomplishing this goal because they supported the ordinariness of the child and the family far more readily th an other preventive measures.