scholarly journals From disappointment to holistic ideals: a qualitative study on motives and experiences of using complementary and alternative medicine in Sweden

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny-Ann Danell
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Medicine ◽  
Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
Qualitative Understanding ◽  
Patterns Of Use ◽  
Conventional Health Care ◽  
Design And Methods ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Complementary And Alternative

<em>Background</em>. Recent studies indicate increased use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in western societies, to ameliorate health problems. Even if there is substantial research on general patterns of use, there is limited knowledge on individual motives. This study contributes to a qualitative understanding of experiences of choosing and using CAM. <br /><em>Design and methods</em>. This study consists of in-depth interviews with 10 CAM users in Sweden. The participants represent different backgrounds and experiences of using CAM. The interviews have been analysed in accordance with content analysis. <br /><em>Results</em>. In analysing experiences of choosing and using CAM four main themes were identified: frustration and critique, values and ideology, individual responsibility, and combining treatments. In general, the participants were highly reflexive on issues concerning their health. They highlighted their own role and responsibility, combined a variety of treatments, and continuously dealt with questions on risks, even if they had relatively different approaches to if and when to use CAM. The results also show that motives may change over time. Even if initial choices were closely related to frustration and critique of conventional treatments (for example, by perceiving conventional health care as limited, not receiving proper diagnoses, or being critical to conventional drugs) was long-term use motivated by ideological characteristics of CAM (such as holistic and individualized treatments, and extensive interaction with practitioners).<br /><em>Conclusions</em>. Four main themes, concerning experiences of choosing and using CAM were identified. This study also supports the idea that initial motives for choosing CAM may differ from those explaining long-term use.

Contested Knowledge and Information Behaviour: Treatments for Depression

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tami Oliphant
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Medicine ◽  
Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Award Winner ◽  
Information Behaviour ◽  
Contested Knowledge ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Complementary And Alternative

A wide variety of treatment options for depressives have been developed by both the conventional and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) sectors. Using data collected from three online newsgroups as well as in-depth interviews, I analyze how people use information when making or justifying claims, or making decisions, about treatments for depression.Les personnes souffrant de dépression ont une grande variété d'options de traitement à leur disposition, y compris les méthodes conventionnelles et les méthodes complémentaires ou alternatives. À l'aide de données recueillies à partir de trois forums en ligne et d'entrevues en profondeur, j'ai analysé comment les gens utilisent cette information pour déclarer, justifier leurs déclarations ou encore choisir les traitements contre la dépression. ***Student to CAIS/ACSI Award Winner***

Yoga as Entrée to Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Medically Pluralistic Practices

2012 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 348-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Sivén ◽  
Joanna Mishtal
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Alternative Medicine ◽  
Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Care Seeking ◽  
Care Seeking ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Complementary And Alternative ◽  
Yoga Practitioners

Yoga is increasingly ubiquitous in the United States and globally. The growth of yoga's popularity alongside Indian healing philosophies, including Ayurvedic medicine, makes yoga an important influence on conceptualization of health in holistic terms. Because of these philosophies, the growing use of yoga has implications for how healthcare is sought and utilized. Yoga practitioners are likely to engage in pluralistic health care-seeking practices, yet, the underlying perspectives that drive yoga practitioners to engage in particular health practices are poorly understood in anthropological and public health literature. This study examined perspectives on health care-seeking among long-term yoga practitioners in a yoga community in Florida. Based on semi-structured interviews conducted in 2010 with 26 adults in a Florida yoga center who have practiced yoga at least once per week for at least one year, the study found that long-term yoga practitioners utilized yoga and other systems of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to address health needs that were not met by biomedicine. Moreover, once individuals embarked on long-term yoga practice, they expanded their health care-seeking practices to other CAMs. This study contributes to understanding of the pluralization of health care-seeking practices, highlights concerns with the biomedical health system, and contributes to current debates on health care reform.

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