My body, my life, my choice: practices and meanings of complementary and alternative medicine among a sample of Australian people living with HIV/AIDS and their practitioners

AIDS Care
Karalyn McDonald, Sean Slavin

Abstract

In this study we examine the sociocultural meaning and use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) by nine people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and four CAM practitioners. Analysis revealed five themes: focus on health not illness; resistance to antiretroviral therapy and adherence; allopathic medicine as narrow; difficulty disclosing to doctors; and a continuum of CAM that sometimes included conventional medicine and sometimes excluded it entirely. Literature on PLWHA in the West commonly describes them as sophisticated health consumers. We explore the concepts of individual responsibility in relation to health, holism, control and well-being in the context of CAM. We also consider the meaning and significance of CAM and western medicine to comment on the contemporary experience of HIV, including the possible impact of stigma and the perceived limits of allopathic medicine among some PLWHA. Understanding this will enable better insight into the treatment choices of PLWHA, particularly those who may be described as sceptical of conventional medical science.

References

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Citations

Sep 3, 2013·AIDS Patient Care and STDs·Ava Lorenc, Nicola Robinson
Jun 5, 2013·BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine·Brigitte FranzelBettina Berger
Jan 21, 2014·Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice·Ava LorencNicola Robinson
May 17, 2014·Neurogastroenterology and Motility : the Official Journal of the European Gastrointestinal Motility Society·T H TaftL Keefer
Jun 12, 2014·British Journal of Health Psychology·Katherine M WhiteKyra Hamilton
Mar 15, 2015·The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care : JANAC·Graeme DonaldPaul Flowers
Feb 15, 2015·International Journal of STD & AIDS·Lesley A BraunAlison J Duncan
Jun 13, 2019·BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine·Maria Pilar Ramirez-GarciaMyriam Dupont

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