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The Low Literate Consumer in the Pharmacy

The best public policy arises out of a need to provide protection to those who cannot protect themselves in the marketplace. This paper suggests that consumers with limited literacy skills are routinely overlooked within the healthcare arena and may be in need of consumer protection policies. Low literacy is generally perceived to be a stigma, and consumers may actively work to hide this fact. Moreover, given they lack literacy skills, low literate consumers employ other coping strategies to get their needs met. Based on the analysis of secondary data, in-depth interviews with adults from literacy educational centers, and observations in pharmacies, I explore the viability of the coping strategies that low literate consumers use when buying and consuming prescription and non-prescription drugs. The results suggest that while some of the strategies are successful, other strategies may lead to harmful consequences. / Master of Science

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/36434
Date17 February 2004
CreatorsNardon, Nichole Diane
ContributorsBusiness Administration, Ozanne, Julie L., Keith, Janet E., Nakamoto, Kent
PublisherVirginia Tech
Source SetsVirginia Tech Theses and Dissertation
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Formatapplication/pdf
RightsIn Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
RelationNardon_thesis_ETD.pdf

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