'Doing' chronic illness? Complementary medicine use among people living with HIV/AIDS in Australia.
This article takes the use of complementary medicine by a group of people living with HIV/AIDS as the starting point for exploring the options for living with chronic illness in contemporary western societies. Some authors have suggested that the situation of living with chronic illness may not be a significant departure from the process of negotiating choice that is theorised to be a defining feature of late-modern society and that there are now many ways of living with or 'doing' chronic illness. This article uses these theoretical concepts to explore the experiences of people who have lived with HIV/AIDS for a number of years. It is argued that while different options for managing chronic illness may exist, it is not always possible or desirable for individuals to put these choices into practice. The article is based on 18 qualitative interviews with people living with HIV/AIDS who were using complementary medicine.
Thorpe
Rachel D
RD
The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, 215 Franklin Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. R.Thorpe@latrobe.edu.au
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001315:Australia; D002755:Choice Behavior; D002908:Chronic Disease; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D020276:HIV Long-Term Survivors; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical
D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents