Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T18:56:35.056Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The use of complementary and alternative medicine in later life

Part of: Bespoke shallow archive Weizmann

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 December 2009

Jon Adams ,
Chi-Wai Lui  and
Deirdre McLaughlin
Jon Adams*
Affiliation:
School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Australia and Network of Researchers in the Public Health of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NORPHCAM); www.norphcam.org
Chi-Wai Lui
Affiliation:
School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Australia and Network of Researchers in the Public Health of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NORPHCAM); www.norphcam.org
Deirdre McLaughlin
Affiliation:
School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Australia and Network of Researchers in the Public Health of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NORPHCAM); www.norphcam.org
*
Address for correspondence: Associate Professor Jon Adams, School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Herston Road, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The increasing prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is a significant health care issue in contemporary societies and researchers have identified CAM as holding potential for treating and coping with chronic illness and other conditions experienced in later life. This paper focuses upon contemporary research literature to provide a critical review of the prevalence, correlates, conditions, perceptions and communication of CAM use in later life. Evidence from recent research illustrates the substantial prevalence and complexity of CAM use amongst older people and such ‘community’ use requires all providers, regardless of their experience or perception of the worth of CAM, to at least acknowledge and enquire with their older patients about the potential use of these other medicines.

Keywords

agedcomplementary medicinealternative medicineacupuncturearomatherapychiropractic carereflexologyherbal medicine
Type
Clinical geriatrics
Information
Reviews in Clinical Gerontology , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , November 2009 , pp. 227 - 236
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1Adams, J (ed). Researching Complementary and Alternative Medicine. New York: Routledge, 2007.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2Ernst, E. Prevalence of use of complementary/alternative medicine: a systematic review. Bull World Health Org 2000; 78: 252–57.Google ScholarPubMed
3Harris, P, Rees, R. The prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine use among the general population: a systematic review of the literature. Complement Therap Med 2000; 8: 88–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4Adams, J, Sibbritt, D, Easthope, G, Young, A. The profile of women who consult alternative health practitioners in Australia. Med J Australia 2003; 179: 297–300.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Al-Windi, A. Determinants of complementary alternative medicine (CAM) use. Complement Therap Med 2004; 12: 99–111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6Conboy, L, Patel, S, Kaptchuk, TJ, Gottlieb, B, Eisenberg, D, Acevedo-Garcia, D. Sociodemographic determinants of the utilization of specific types of complementary and alternative medicine: an analysis based on a nationally representative survey sample. J Alternat Complement Med 2005; 11: 977–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Hale, WA, Joubert, JD, Kalula, S. Aging populations and chronic illness. In Markle, WH, Fisher, MA, Raymond, A, Smego, J (eds). Understanding Global Health. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007: pp. 208–29.Google Scholar
8Willison, KD, Williams, P, Andrews, GJ. Enhancing chronic disease management: a review of key issues and strategies. Complement Ther Clin Pract 2007; 13: 232–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9Willison, K, Andrews, GJ. Complementary medicine and older people: past research and future directions. Complement Therap Nursing Midwifery 2004; 10: 80–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10Timonen, V. Ageing Societies: A Comparative Introduction. Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2008.Google Scholar
11Weiss, RS, Bass, SA (eds). Challenges of the Third Age: Meaning and Purpose in Later Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.Google Scholar
12Gilleard, C, Higgs, P. The third age: Field, habitus, or identity? In Jones, IR, Higgs, P, Ekerdt, DJ (eds). Consumption & Generational Change: The Rise of Consumer Lifestyles. London: Transaction Publishers, 2009: pp. 23–36.Google Scholar
13World Health Organization. Active Ageing: A Policy Framework. Madrid: World Health Organization; 2002.Google Scholar
14Lopez, AD, Mathers, CD, Ezzati, M, Jamison, DT, Murray, CJL (eds). Global Burden of Disease and Risk Factors. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15Holman, H. Chronic disease – the need for a new clinical education. J Am Med Assoc 2004; 292: 1057–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16Cartwright, T. ‘Getting on with life’: the experiences of older people using complementary health care. Social Science Med 2007; 64: 1692–703.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17Cherniack, EP, Senzel, RS, Pan, CX. Correlates of use of alternative medicine by the elderly in an urban population. J Alternat Complement Med 2001; 7: 277–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18Shreffler-Grant, J, Hill, W, Weinert, C, Nichols, E, Ide, B. Complementary therapy and older rural women: Who uses it and who does not? Nursing Res 2007; 56: 28–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19McMahan, S, Lutz, R. Alternative therapy use among the young-old (ages 65 to 74): An evaluation of the MIDUS database. J Appl Gerontol 2004; 23: 91–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20Milewa, T. Health care, consumerism and the politics of identity. In Gabe, J, Calnan, M (eds). The New Sociology of the Health Service. London: Routledge, 2009: pp. 161–76.Google Scholar
21Henderson, S, Petersen, A (eds). Consuming Health: The Commodification of Health Care. New York: Routledge, 2002.Google Scholar
22Bury, M, Taylor, D. Towards a theory of care transition: from medical dominance to managed consumerism. Social Theory & Health 2008; 6: 201–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23Higgs, P, Jones, IR. Medical Sociology and Old Age: Towards a Sociology of Later Life. London: Routledge, 2009.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24Binstock, RH. Anti-aging medicine and research: a realm of conflict and profound societal implications. J Gerontol Series A – Biol Sci Med Sci 2004; 59: 523–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25Olshansky, SJ, Hayflick, L, Perls, TT. Anti-aging medicine: The hype and the reality – Part I. J Gerontol Biol Sci 2004; 59A: 513–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26Vincent, JA, Tulle, E, Bond, J. The anti-ageing enterprise: Science, knowledge, expertise, rhetoric and values. J Aging Studies 2008; 22: 291–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27Stuckelberger, A.Anti-Ageing Medicine: Myths and Chances. Bern: Verlag der Fachvereine Hochschulverlag AG an der ETH Zurich, 2008.Google Scholar
28Gammack, JK, Morley, JE. Anti-aging medicine – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Clin Geriatr Med 2004; 20: 157–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29Featherstone, M, Hepworth, M. The mask of ageing and the postmodern life course. In Featherstone, M, Hepworth, M, Turner, B (eds). The Body: Social Process and Cultural Theory. London: Sage, 1991: pp. 371–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30Andrews, GJ. Placing the consumption of private complementary medicine: everyday geographies of older people's use. Health and Place 2003; 9: 337–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31Flaherty, JH, Takahashi, R. The use of complementary and alternative medical therapies among older persons around the world. Clin Geriatr Med 2004; 20: 179–200.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
32Ness, J, Cirillo, DJ, Weir, DR, Nisly, NL, Wallace, RB. Use of complementary medicine in older Americans: Results from the Health and Retirement Study. The Gerontologist 2005; 45: 516–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
33Montalto, CP, Bhargava, V, Hong, GS. Use of complementary and alternative medicine by older adults: An exploratory study. Complement Health Prac Rev 2006; 11: 27–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
34Grzywacz, JG, Suerken, CK, Quandt, SA, Bell, RA, Lang, W, Arcury, TA. Older adults’ use of complementary and alternative medicine for mental health: Findings from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey. J Alternat Complement Med 2006; 12: 467–73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
35American Association of Retired Persons. Complementary and Alternative Medicine: What People 50 and Older Are Using and Discussing with Their Physicians. Washington: American Association of Retired Persons and National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine; 2007.Google Scholar
36Cheung, CK, Wyman, JF, Halcon, LL. Use of complementary and alternative therapies in community-dwelling older adults. J Alternat Complement Med 2007; 13: 997–1006.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
37Zhang, AL, Xue, CCL, Lin, V, Story, DF. Complementary and alternative medicine use by older Australians. Ann New York Acad Sci 2007; 1114: 204–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
38Sibbritt, D. Utilising existing data sets for CAM-consumption research: the case of cohort studies. In Adams, J (ed). Researching Complementary and Alternative Medicine. London: Routledge, 2007: pp. 37–51.Google Scholar
39Barnes, PM, Bloom, B, Nahin, RL. Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among Adults and Children: United States, 2007. Hyattsville: US Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Interview Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics; 2008.Google Scholar
40Tindle, HA, Davis, RB, Phillips, RS, Eisenberg, DM. Trends in use of complementary and alternative medicine by US adults: 1997–2002. Alternat Therap Health Med 2005; 11: 42–9.Google ScholarPubMed
41Adams, J, Sibbritt, D, Young, AF. A longitudinal analysis of older Australian women's consultations with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners, 1996–2005. Age & Ageing 2009; 38: 93–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
42Cherniack, EP, Ceron-Fuentes, J, Florez, H, Sandals, L, Rodriguez, O, Palacios, JC. Influence of race and ethnicity on alternative medicine as a self-treatment preference for common medical conditions in a population of multi-ethnic urban elderly. Complement Therap Clin Prac 2008; 14: 116–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
43Loera, JA, Reyes-Ortiz, C, Kuo, YF. Predictors of complementary and alternative medicine use among older Mexican Americans. Complement Ther Clin Pract 2007; 13: 224–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
44Arcury, TA, Bell, RA, Snively, BM et al. Complementary and alternative medicine use as health self-management: Rural older adults with diabetes. J Gerontol 2006; 61B: 562–70.Google Scholar
45Willison, KD, Andrews, GJ, Cockerham, WC. Life chance characteristics of older users of Swedish massage. Complement Therap Clin Prac 2005; 11: 232–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
46Grzywacz, JG, Suerken, CK, Neiberg, RH et al. Age, ethnicity, and use of complementary and alternative medicine in health self-management. J Health Social Behavior 2007; 48: 84–98.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
47Votova, K, Wister, AV. Self-care dimensions of complementary and alternative medicine use among older adults. Gerontology 2007; 53: 21–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
48Arcury, T, Bell, R, Vitolins, M, Quandt, S. Rural older adults’ beliefs and behaviour related to complementary and alternative medicine use. Complement Health Prac Rev 2005; 10: 33–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
49Bell, RA, Stafford, JM, Arcury, TA et al. Complementary and alternative medicine use and diabetes self-management among rural older adults. Complement Health Prac Rev 2006; 11: 95–106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
50Shreffler-Grant, J, Weinert, C, Nichols, E, Ide, B. Complementary therapy use among older rural adults. Public Health Nursing 2005; 22: 323–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
51Ryder, PT, Wolpert, B, Orwig, D, Carter-Pokras, O, Black, SA. Complementary and alternative medicine use among older urban African Americans: Individual and neighborhood associations. J Nat Med Assoc 2008; 100: 1186–92.Google ScholarPubMed
52King, MO. Complementary and alternative therapy use by older adults in three ethnically-diverse populations: A pilot study. Geriatric Nursing 2004; 25: 30–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
53Voyer, P, Rail, G, Laberge, S, Purnell, L. Cultural minority older women's attitudes towards medication and implications for adherence to a medicine regimen. Diversity Health Social Care 2005; 2: 47–61.Google Scholar
54Lai, D, Chappell, N. Use of traditional Chinese medicine by older Chinese immigrants in Canada. Family Practice 2007; 24: 56–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
55Lai, DWL, Surood, S. Chinese health beliefs of older Chinese in Canada. J Aging Health 2009; 21: 38–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
56Tze Pin Ng, RJ, Tan, CH, Kua, EH. The use of Chinese herbal medicines and their correlates in Chinese older adults: the Singapore Chinese Longitudinal Aging Study. Age & Ageing 2004; 33: 135–42.Google Scholar
57Harley, DA. Indigenous healing practices among rural elderly African Americans. Int J Disability, Develop Educ 2006; 53: 433–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
58Bell, RA, Suerken, CK, Grzywacz, JG, Lang, W, Quandt, SA, Arcury, TA. CAM use among older adults age 65 or older with hypertension in the United States: General use and disease treatment. J Alternat Complement Med 2006; 12: 903–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
59Cherniack, EP. The use of alternative medicine for the treatment of insomnia in the elderly. Psychogeriatrics 2006; 6: 21–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
60Meeks, TW, Wetherell, JL, Irwin, MR, Redwine, LS, Jeste, DV. Complementary and alternative treatments for late-life depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance: A review of randomized controlled trials. J Clin Psychiat 2007; 68: 1461–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
61Andrews, GJ. Private complementary medicine and older people: service use and user empowerment. Ageing and Society 2002; 22: 343–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
62Gaylord, S. Alternative therapies and empowerment of older women. J Women & Aging 1999; 11: 29–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
63Ziguras, C. Self-Care: Embodiment, Personal Autonomy and the Shaping of Health Consciousness. New York: Routledge, 2004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
64Montbriand, MJ. Senior and health-professionals’ perceptions and communication about prescriptions and alternative therapies. Can J Aging 2000; 19: 35–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
65Desai, A, Grossberg, G. Herbals and botanicals in geriatric psychiatry. Am J Geriat Psychiat 2003; 11: 498–506.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
66Lake, J. Complementary, alternative, and integrative Rx: Safety issues. Psychiatric Times 2009; 26: 1–4.Google Scholar
67Artus, M, Croft, P, Lewis, M. The use of CAM and conventional treatments among primary care consulters with chronic musculoskeletal pain. BMC Family Practice 2007; 8: 26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
68Cant, S. Mainstream marginality: ‘Non-orthodox’ medicine in an ‘orthodox’ health service. In Gabe, J, Calnan, M (eds). The New Sociology of the Health Service. London: Routledge, 2009: pp. 177–200.Google Scholar
69Williamson, J, Stokoe, IH, Gray, S et al. Old people at home: their unreported needs. The Lancet 1964; 1: 1117–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
70Iliffe, S, Haines, A, Gallivan, S, Booroff, A, Goldberg, E, Morgan, P. Assessment of elderly people in general practice. 2. Functional abilities and medical problems. Br J Gen Prac 1991; 41: 13–15.Google ScholarPubMed
71Lui, C-W, Everingham, J, Warburton, J, Cuthill, M, Bartlett, H. What makes a community age-friendly: a review of international literature. Australas J Ageing 2009; 28: 116–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
72Victor, C, Scambler, S, Bond, J. The Social World of Older People – Understanding Loneliness and Social Isolation in Later Life. Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2009.Google Scholar
73O'Rand, A. The future of the life course: late modernity and life course risks. In Mortimer, J, Shanahan, M (eds). Handbook of the Life Course. New York: Springer, 2004: pp. 693–701.Google Scholar
74Andrews, GJ, Cutchin, M, McCracken, K, Phillips, DR, Wiles, J. Geographical Gerontology: the constitution of a discipline. Soc Sci Med 2007; 65: 151–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
75Higgs, P, Gilleard, C. Departing the margins: Social class and later life in a second modernity. J Sociol 2006; 42: 219–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar