In this book I present a qualitative analysis of the experiences of twenty-one Canadians who use alternative therapies. My analysis is informed by a symbolic interactionist perspective that emphasizes the process by which people give meaning to reality, and how those meanings guide their actions. This research is a timely addition to the literature on alternative and complementary health care as it addresses significant gaps in this area of scholarship. For instance, dominant biomedical interests mean that there is considerable study of the therapies themselves, especially the issues of efficacy and safety (Ernst 1997, 1999, 2000a; Lewith et al. 2000). An equally pervasive concentration on the professions means that research is, more often than not, geared towards the study of the activities of alternative practitioners in their efforts to professionalize or achieve regulated status (Boon 1998; Bourgeault 2000; Coburn 1997; Saks 1995). While the aforementioned are certainly valid research concerns, preoccupation with them turns attention away from the lay person who participates in these approaches to health and healing. Moreover, even when the focus of research is on the user of these therapies, the overwhelming majority of studies employ quantitative methods (Eisenberg et al. 1998; Blais 2000; Furnham 1994; Vincent and Furnham 1994, 1996, 1997). While quantitative approaches can provide us with information about the number of people who use alternative health care, as well as about their broad demographic characteristics, they tell us less about the wider experiences people have with alternative therapies and the impact of those experiences on their lives.
The study of alternative therapy has also been dominated by British and American scholarship. While the last ten years has seen the burgeoning of attention to the study of alternative health and healing by Canadian scholars,1 little international research has addressed participation in alternative health care in the Canadian context. For instance, in documenting the usage of alternative and complementary therapies in the United Kingdom (UK) and internationally, Fulder (1996:xii) refers to “the United States, Western Europe, Germany, France, The Netherlands, the rest of Europe and Scandinavia, ... Russia and Eastern Europe, Australia, New Zealand, ... South Africa, ... China [and] India”—but makes no mention of the use of alternative therapies in Canada. Therefore, my intent in this book is to address these gaps in the literature by furthering understanding of how and why Canadians seek out alternative health care, of their beliefs about these approaches to health and healing, and of what impact participation in these therapies has on them.
This work will be of particular interest to sociologists and other social scientists researching and teaching in the areas of health and health care, as well as in those of alternative and complementary therapies. It will also be useful for graduate and undergraduate students in health studies programs or those majoring in sociology and social sciences with a focus on health, illness, and health care. Given my attention to issues of identity construction and stigma management, this book can also serve as a supplementary text in courses dealing with such subjects as “the self and identity” as well as “deviant behaviour.” In addition, given the increasing interest in integrating alternative and complementary therapies within the Canadian health care system (Tataryn and Verhoef 2001; Balon et al. 2001a), this book will prove useful as reference material for health care professionals and health policymakers. Finally, I hope that this study and its findings will be of interest to those members of the general public who participate in alternative therapies, or who wish to learn more about alternative forms of health and healing.
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