Age-related patterns in mental health-related complementary and alternative medicine utilization in Canada

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Crabb ◽  
John Hunsley

ABSTRACTBackground: The aim of this study was to examine whether age-related differences in rates of use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) specifically for mental health problems parallel well-known age-related differences in use of conventional mental health services and medications.Methods: A sample of middle-aged (45–64 years; n = 10,762), younger-old (65–74; n = 4,113) and older-old adults (75 years and older; n = 3,623) was drawn from the 2001–2002 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), Cycle 1.2, Mental Health and Wellbeing. Age-related utilization rates of conventional and complementary mental health services and medications/products were calculated. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine the strength of association between age group and utilization of services and medications or products in the context of other important sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.Results: When considered in the context of other sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, older age was positively associated with mental health-related utilization of alternative health products. Older age was not significantly associated with mental health-related consultations with CAM providers.Conclusions: Overall, age-related patterns in mental health-related use of CAM did not directly correspond to age-related patterns in conventional mental health care utilization, suggesting different sets of predictors involved in seeking each type of care.

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 472-472
Author(s):  
Rebecca Crabb ◽  
John Hunsley

The authors omitted the following statement from the Acknowledgments section: “The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Department of Veterans Affairs”.


2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Pellegrini ◽  
Mirella Ruggeri

SUMMARYAims- A systematic review of the studies on use of alternative and complementary medicine by mental health services' users to investigate the prevalence and motivations of CAM used to treat mental disorders.Methods- This paper shows a part of the results of a literature review, limited to studies between 1966 and 2005, was carried out using Ovid Medline, PsycINFO and EBM Reviews databases. This was supplemented by hand searching of reference lists.Results- Ninety-one studies on CAM's use by psychiatric patients were analyzed. In this paper the twenty-five articles about the CAM's prevalence and use's motivations are described. The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) varies across countries: data suggest that from 50% to 80% of people suffering of mental disorders use CAM. Heterogeneous methods, samples and results characterizing the studies make generalizations results difficult. Patients motivations of CAM's use were poorly investigated by research, however it seems that persons affected by mental disorders use MAC prevalently because they are dissatisfied with conventional medicine and/or because these alternatives approaches are congruent with their own values, beliefs and philosophical orientation toward health care.Conclusions- The review emphasize the importance of a best physicians' education and information about CAM to improve the management of non-conventional and orthodox medicine relationship. The motivations of CAM's use underline the relevance of patient's holistic conception and the therapeutic role of a patient-physician relationship based on emphaty. Besides it seems important to investigate furtherly patients' psychological and social aspects that influence their choise to use CAM.


2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-80
Author(s):  
Daniel Kwai Apat ◽  
Wellington Digwa

This paper examines mental health policies in relation to African communities residing in New South Wales, Australia and the attitudes of African communities toward mental disorders and mental health services. Current mental health policy frameworks have shown an inadequate inclusion of African communities. This may negatively affect the design of mental health interventions and how African communities engage with mental health services. The available mental health literature on African communities showed disjointed and uncoordinated data which focuses on specific community-groups within African communities. Insufficient mental health or suicide data, combined with African community members’ perception toward mental disorders and mental health services, makes it very difficult to progress engagement and interventions. There is a need for proper and sizable data on mental health related to people of African descent in NSW and Australia wide, if positive outcomes are to be realised.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 164-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrian Liem

Purpose As part of a nationwide research about knowledge, attitude, experiences and educational needs towards complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among Indonesian clinical psychologists (CPs), the purpose of this paper is to explore CPs’ perceptions of CAM research and their interest in learning CAM. Design/methodology/approach A link to an online survey was e-mailed to all 1,045 CPs across Indonesia. At the end of the survey, two open-ended questions were asked: “What do you think about CAM research in Indonesia?” and “Why are you interested in learning about CAM?”, which were responded to by 127 participants (87 per cent of females; Mage=36.67, SD=9.02). Participants’ responses were analysed using inductive qualitative content analysis. Findings It was found that two global themes for CPs’ perceptions of CAM were to improve participants’ professionalism and as part of continuing education and development for mental health professionals. The favourable responses in this study may reflect participants’ willingness to be involved in collaborative CAM research and education. Moreover, CAM was perceived as part of Indonesian culture and participants viewed CAM research and knowledge as a chance to promote Indonesian local wisdom to complement conventional psychotherapy. Research limitations/implications These findings might call for stakeholders to integrate CAM knowledge into psychology education, facilitate CAM research in psychology settings and encourage collaborative CAM research. However, self-selection bias may limit the findings of this study. Originality/value This study explored perceptions of CAM research and interest in learning CAM that have rarely been investigated among mental health professionals and particularly, until now, have not been investigated in Indonesia.


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