Alternative health care utilisation among seniors
Date
2000
Authors
Wolfe, Nuala Katherine
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Abstract
The increasing use of alternative health care practices in the senior population has gone largely unnoticed in the current literature. For the general population, use of alternative therapies has been reported to occur as a result of physician dissatisfaction or as a concomitant of a changing ideology toward the body, mind and health care. In this qualitative study, fifteen seniors over the age of 65 were interviewed in Victoria, British Columbia to gain an understanding of why seniors use alternative therapies. This study focuses on five alternative health care practices including chiropractic, acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, naturopathy and herbology. The results indicate negative experiences with the medical system rather than with the family physician and a belief in responsibility for one's own health as factors for older adults turning to alternative therapies. It is concluded that seniors perceive the use of alternative therapies as a positive event both physically and mentally.