Lay constructions of HIV and complementary therapy use

This study examines the meanings that individuals with HIV attach to their use of complementary therapies. A qualitative analysis of 66 interviews com pleted between 1993 and 1998 showed that complementary therapies represent different things for these individuals - a health maintenance strategy, a h ealing strategy, an alternative to Western medicine, a way of mitigating th e side-effects of drug therapies, a strategy for maximizing quality of life , a coping strategy, and a form of political resistance. We found that the meanings individuals ascribe to complementary therapies and the benefits th ey expect to derive from them are not idiosyncratic, but linked to social c haracteristics - sexuality, ethnocultural background, gender - and to belie fs about health and illness, values and experiences. We found as well that these meanings are neither mutually exclusive nor fixed. The therapies ofte n appeal to individuals on different levels and their appeal may change ove r time. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.