The Meanings and Management of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Use in Later Life

Abstract

<p> The purpose of this thesis was to explore why and how seniors used complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as well as the meanings they attached to their use of unconventional therapies. To this end, I conducted in-depth, individual interviews with 43 older adults-15 men and 28 women. Based on these data, I found that while all participants recognized the importance of conventional healthcare and continued to use its services, a number of people distrusted and were dissatisfied with medical doctors and treatments as well. Though these negative feelings were not sufficient to push seniors towards CAM, they certainly played a role in their decision making. What informants particularly valued about unconventional approaches was that they allowed them to assert greater control over their health and, to some extent, their aging process. As a result, they viewed CAM as being an integral part of their aging lifestyles and actively incorporated these therapies into their treatment regimens. These findings overall contribute to the relatively scant, albeit growing, body of research on CAM use in later life, seniors' management of regimens, and older patients' dissatisfaction with and distrust of conventional medicine. Theoretically, the findings of this work demonstrate the importance of meaning in later life and specifically, how meanings attached to conventional and unconventional care can influence older adults' health-related perceptions and practices.</p>