Rurality, mobility, identity: women's use of complementary and alternative medicine in rural Australia

Title: Rurality, mobility, identity: women's use of complementary and alternative medicine in rural Australia
Creator: Meurk, Carla; Broom, Alex; Adams, Jon; Sibbritt, David
Relation: NHMRC.ID511181
Relation: Health & Place Vol. 20, p. 75-80
Publisher Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2012.12.005
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Resource Type: journal article
Date: 2013
Description: This article explores why women in rural and remote areas of Australia use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) at higher rates than their counterparts in urban areas. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 60 women 60-65 years of age, currently living in rural Australia, we explore the possibility that CAM use in rural areas may be embedded in processes of spatialised identity-building and the health-creating practices of mobile, ex-urban, individuals who drive this process. We problematise previous explanations which suggest CAM use in rural areas is principally derived from a lack of biomedical service provision and enhanced community ties showing instead how and why identity and mobility are useful additional variables for understanding CAM use in rural areas.
Subject: complementary and alternative medicine; rural health; women's health; mobility; qualitative research
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1293551
Identifier: uon:18624
Identifier: ISSN:1353-8292
Language: eng
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