THE HEALTH INEQUALITIES AND THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF THERAPIE AND PHARMACY PRECTICE IN AN AGING SOCIETY: A RESEARCH IN UMBRIA

In our post-modern society every patient becomes a medical product consumer, but some of them need a 'particular' assistance. Taking as its starting point the 'irrational passion for dispassionate rationality', so prevalent in Western thought and practice, this paper traces, through the emotions, current debates surrounding the ambivalent nature of modernity as both order and chaos, conformity and transgression. It is argued that reason and emotions are not antithetical to each other rather there is a need to fundamentally rethink existing epistemological models and ontological ways of being and knowing. Thus, Pharmacy practice in the 'Aging Society' should take under consideration the aspects of aging that transcend physical and biological changes, addressing practical concerns such as communication, understanding cultural values, and social issues with regard to the possible health inequalities among elderly.