Consumer Approach to Acculturation and Complementary/Alternative Medication: Differences between English Speakers,English Speakers of Color,and Spanish Speakers of Color

Abstract

The current study implements a qualitative explanatory framework of consumer acculturation to explore the perceptions of Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) among recently medicated persons from three different ethnic and racial groups: whites, Latino minority (English-speakers), and Latino minority (Spanish-speakers) to understand the social mechanisms that contribute to differences in perceptions of and experiences with CAM use. Findings suggest that there is a continuum of receptivity to CAM use based on levels of acculturation. Latinos speaking primarily English mirrored patterns of CAM use among non-Hispanic whites which showed that CAM is complementary rather than a substitute for conventional care. For Spanish-speaking Latinos, CAM was more about expressions of a culture rooted in ethnicity and acculturation. For Spanish-speaking Latinos, CAM is about identity and part of a culture-making process.

Keywords

complementary/alternative medication Latino language acculturation

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