Complementary and alternative medicine use among older Australian women - a qualitative analysis

McLaughlin, D; Lui, CW; Adams, J

Complementary and alternative medicine use among older Australian women - a qualitative analysis

McLaughlin, D Lui, CW Adams, J

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2012, 12
Issue Date:: 2012-04-04

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	McLaughlin, D	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Lui, CW	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Adams, J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9901-5717	en_US
dc.date.available	2012-04-04	en_US
dc.date.issued	2012-04-04	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2012, 12	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/22434
dc.description.abstract	Background: The use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) among older adults is an emerging health issue, however little is known about older people's experiences of using CAM and the cultural, geographical and other determinants of CAM use in this population. This study used qualitative methods to explore older women's views of CAM and reasons for their use of CAM. Participants for the project were drawn from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) 1921-1926 birth cohort. Women who responded positively to a question about CAM use in Survey 5 (2008) of the ALSWH were invited to participate in the study. A total of 13 rural and 12 urban women aged between 83 and 88 years agreed to be interviewed.Results: The women expressed a range of views on CAM which fell into three broad themes: "push" factors such as dissatisfaction with conventional health services, "pull" factors which emphasised the positive aspects of choice and self-care in health matters, and barriers to CAM use. Overall, the "push' factors did not play a major role in the decision to use CAM, rather this was driven by "pull" factors related to health care self-responsibility and being able to source positive information about types of CAM. A number of barriers were identified such as access difficulties associated with increased age, limited mobility and restricted transport options, as well as financial constraints.Conclusions: CAM use among older women was unlikely to be influenced by aspects of conventional health care ("push factors"), but rather was reflective of the personal beliefs of the women and members of their close social networks ("pull factors"). While it was also apparent that there were differences between the rural and urban women in their use of CAM, the reasons for this were mainly due to the difficulties inherent in accessing certain types of CAM in rural areas. © 2012 McLaughlin et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1186/1472-6882-12-34	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Complementary & Alternative Medicine	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Humans	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Complementary Therapies	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Self Care	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Longitudinal Studies	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Choice Behavior	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Age Factors	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Qualitative Research	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Socioeconomic Factors	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Transportation	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Aged, 80 and over	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Women's Health	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Health Services Accessibility	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Patient Acceptance of Health Care	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Australia	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Female	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Mobility Limitation	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Information Seeking Behavior	en_US
dc.title	Complementary and alternative medicine use among older Australian women - a qualitative analysis	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	12	en_US
utslib.for	1104 Complementary and Alternative Medicine	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CHSP - Health Services and Practice
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	12	en_US

Abstract:

Background: The use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) among older adults is an emerging health issue, however little is known about older people's experiences of using CAM and the cultural, geographical and other determinants of CAM use in this population. This study used qualitative methods to explore older women's views of CAM and reasons for their use of CAM. Participants for the project were drawn from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) 1921-1926 birth cohort. Women who responded positively to a question about CAM use in Survey 5 (2008) of the ALSWH were invited to participate in the study. A total of 13 rural and 12 urban women aged between 83 and 88 years agreed to be interviewed.Results: The women expressed a range of views on CAM which fell into three broad themes: "push" factors such as dissatisfaction with conventional health services, "pull" factors which emphasised the positive aspects of choice and self-care in health matters, and barriers to CAM use. Overall, the "push' factors did not play a major role in the decision to use CAM, rather this was driven by "pull" factors related to health care self-responsibility and being able to source positive information about types of CAM. A number of barriers were identified such as access difficulties associated with increased age, limited mobility and restricted transport options, as well as financial constraints.Conclusions: CAM use among older women was unlikely to be influenced by aspects of conventional health care ("push factors"), but rather was reflective of the personal beliefs of the women and members of their close social networks ("pull factors"). While it was also apparent that there were differences between the rural and urban women in their use of CAM, the reasons for this were mainly due to the difficulties inherent in accessing certain types of CAM in rural areas. © 2012 McLaughlin et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/22434