Alternative, complementary or concurrent health care? A critical analysis of the use of the concept of complementary therapy.
In this paper I critically address what is becoming the wholesale adoption of the concept of complementary medicine in researchers' analyses of lay participation in alternative therapies. This paper emerged out of a qualitative study of 21 Canadians who use and/or practice alternative therapies. I found that only seven informants used the term 'complementary' in describing their use of alternative therapies. Of those seven who did, five were alternative practitioners. I discuss the variability of meaning of the concept of 'complementary' and I argue that alternative practitioners have a professional interest in using the concept to avoid seeming in competition with medical professionals and to reduce the likelihood of being labelled 'quacks'. I conclude with a plea for researchers to define their terms in analyses of individuals' use of alternative and/or their dual use of alternative and allopathic health care.
Low
J
J
Health Studies, De Montfort University, Leicester, LE7 9SU, UK. jlow@dmu.ac.uk
D001294:Attitude to Health; D000529:Complementary Therapies; D006801:Humans; D009626:Terminology as Topic