Abstract
BackgroundThe 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.ResultsThe 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.ConclusionsCAM 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.
Highlights
The use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) among older adults is an emerging health issue, little is known about older people’s experiences of using CAM and the cultural, geographical and other determinants of CAM use in this population
The aim of this study is to explore the perspectives of older women on CAM use and how this is influenced by geographical location
’Push’ factors One area that has received some previous research attention is the notion that older women may experience a “push” away from conventional health services because of the difficulties in accessing some of these services and because of the non-participatory role expected of older patients [10]
Summary
The use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) among older adults is an emerging health issue, little is known about older people’s experiences of using CAM and the cultural, geographical and other determinants of CAM use in this population. Increased consumer participation in health care and the rise of the anti-ageing movement has encouraged the Despite the increasing prevalence of CAM use in older adults, a common finding in the literature is that older adults report lower use of CAM than other age groups [3,4,5]. This finding is paradoxical, because research consistently demonstrates that higher levels of chronic conditions and other indicators of poor health are associated with an increase in the use of CAM [6] and older adults generally bear the greatest burden of poor health. The positive ‘pull’ factors highlight the perceived positive aspects of CAM and have been emphasised in other studies, which suggest that many older people use CAM because it is more consistent with their personal values or because it offers them the opportunity to use their own judgement regarding their health and health care [11,12]
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