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Why do people return to complementary medicine? : understanding the relationship between beliefs, experiences and health care behaviours

Why do people return to complementary medicine? : understanding the relationship between beliefs, experiences and health care behaviours
Why do people return to complementary medicine? : understanding the relationship between beliefs, experiences and health care behaviours

Use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is substantial in the UK.  This thesis is about why people return to CAM, in other words why people continue to use adhere to CAM.

Two new questionnaire measures were developed.  The CAM Beliefs Inventory (CAMBI) was developed as a generic measure of treatment beliefs relevant to CAM which can be used in a range of CAM settings.  The Treatment Process Questionnaire (TPQ) was developed as a generic measure of peoples’ experiences of non-pharmacological treatments and can be used in both CAM and non-CAM settings.

Two questionnaire studies were conducted to examine the relative importance of different beliefs in ongoing CAM use.  The cross-sectional study found that beliefs in holistic health were the most important predictors of CAM use across different CAM treatments. The prospective questionnaire study examined the relationship between beliefs, experiences of treatment, and adherence to CAM.  This study showed that positive experiences of treatment are the most important predictors of adherence to CAM, compared to treatment and illness beliefs.

A qualitative study using ethnographic and grounded theory techniques was conducted to examine the process involved in ongoing CAM use.  This study developed a process-oriented model of CAM use which suggested ways in which people experience and evaluate CAM therapies, and highlighted the way in which individuals’ health care decisions are embedded in the socio-cultural context.

Overall this programme of research has provided rigorous and well-validated insights with questionnaire measures and valuable theory-driven processes in a much under-researched and over-debated area.

University of Southampton
Bishop, Felicity Laura
04d821a7-eea4-408e-a335-864f7e8595fc
Bishop, Felicity Laura
04d821a7-eea4-408e-a335-864f7e8595fc

Bishop, Felicity Laura (2005) Why do people return to complementary medicine? : understanding the relationship between beliefs, experiences and health care behaviours. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

Use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is substantial in the UK.  This thesis is about why people return to CAM, in other words why people continue to use adhere to CAM.

Two new questionnaire measures were developed.  The CAM Beliefs Inventory (CAMBI) was developed as a generic measure of treatment beliefs relevant to CAM which can be used in a range of CAM settings.  The Treatment Process Questionnaire (TPQ) was developed as a generic measure of peoples’ experiences of non-pharmacological treatments and can be used in both CAM and non-CAM settings.

Two questionnaire studies were conducted to examine the relative importance of different beliefs in ongoing CAM use.  The cross-sectional study found that beliefs in holistic health were the most important predictors of CAM use across different CAM treatments. The prospective questionnaire study examined the relationship between beliefs, experiences of treatment, and adherence to CAM.  This study showed that positive experiences of treatment are the most important predictors of adherence to CAM, compared to treatment and illness beliefs.

A qualitative study using ethnographic and grounded theory techniques was conducted to examine the process involved in ongoing CAM use.  This study developed a process-oriented model of CAM use which suggested ways in which people experience and evaluate CAM therapies, and highlighted the way in which individuals’ health care decisions are embedded in the socio-cultural context.

Overall this programme of research has provided rigorous and well-validated insights with questionnaire measures and valuable theory-driven processes in a much under-researched and over-debated area.

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Published date: 2005

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 465943
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/465943
PURE UUID: c7847076-38db-4446-b6b2-7dbd042a1480

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Date deposited: 05 Jul 2022 03:44
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 20:26

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Author: Felicity Laura Bishop

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