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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Private complementary medicine and older people
— service use and user empowerment | | Author(s) | Gavin J Andrews |
| Journal title | Ageing & Society, vol 22, part 3, May 2002 |
| Pages | pp 343-368 |
| Keywords | Alternative medicine ; Private health services ; Attitude ; Rights [elderly] ; Social surveys ; Devon ; Buckinghamshire. |
| Annotation | Increasing numbers people are using complementary therapies, many from older age groups. Although recent empirical research has considered the demands for complementary medicine - particularly its recent consumer boom - little acknowledgement is given in research to users' social class and to the intricacies of their motivations and consumer behaviours. In the context of a relative paucity of dedicated research investigations, the paper highlights the relevance of social gerontological perspectives. Based on a questionnaire survey of 144 older users, and in-depth interviews with 20 older users in Devon and Buckinghamshire, it considers trends in local use and user actions, attitudes and opinions. From a disciplinary perspective the paper also contributes to a growing body of research which focuses on older people's self-implemented health and health care strategies. There is a substantial degree of user satisfaction with the therapies used, and many respondents claimed to have benefited in terms of their physical and mental health. Older users are also empowered by their treatment decisions and negotiations, many of which are made either independently, or jointly between themselves and their therapists. (KJ/RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-020812206 A |
| Classmark | LK3: LH: DP: IKR: 3F: 8DE: 8BU |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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