The aim of this study was to examine aromatherapy practice in relation to its claim of being or becoming a profession. This process of professionalisation is explored within the current context where the status of complementary and alternative medicines within the Australian health care system, like aromatherapy practice, is currently influenced by medical dominance and broader social and political scrutiny. This investigation of aromatherapy practice may provide a model for the general professionalisation, or development, of complementary and alternative medicine in Australian health care today. Critical theory was employed as the primary methodology of this study. As critical theory has no defined method for data collection, grounded theory data collection and analysis methods were used to obtain current and relevant data from two of the most prominent users of aromatherapy practice in health care, aromatherapists and nurses.The study found that while aromatherapy is often referred to as a profession, it fails to meet the criteria for being considered a profession in the ‘true’ sense. The data also revealed felt dissatisfactions experienced by aromatherapists’ to be due to the lack of recognition of the practice and a perceived double bind regarding the need to establish an appropriate knowledge base via scientific research and maintaining the ‘essence’ of aromatherapy practice. Considering the professionalisation process and the requirements of the system (health care and Government) a number of potential pathways for the development of aromatherapy practice were explored. The findings and discussion have relevance to other complementary and alternative modalities endeavouring to professionalise and or increase their status within the Australian health care system. In addition the study considers the related public felt dissatisfaction and revealed false consciousness relating to a broader social change and the integration of holistic and biomedical practices in health care.

The aim of this study was to examine aromatherapy practice in relation to its claim of being or becoming a profession. This process of professionalisation is explored within the current context where the status of complementary and alternative medicines within the Australian health care system, like aromatherapy practice, is currently influenced by medical dominance and broader social and political scrutiny. This investigation of aromatherapy practice may provide a model for the general professionalisation, or development, of complementary and alternative medicine in Australian health care today. Critical theory was employed as the primary methodology of this study. As critical theory has no defined method for data collection, grounded theory data collection and analysis methods were used to obtain current and relevant data from two of the most prominent users of aromatherapy practice in health care, aromatherapists and nurses.The study found that while aromatherapy is often referred to as a profession, it fails to meet the criteria for being considered a profession in the ‘true’ sense. The data also revealed felt dissatisfactions experienced by aromatherapists’ to be due to the lack of recognition of the practice and a perceived double bind regarding the need to establish an appropriate knowledge base via scientific research and maintaining the ‘essence’ of aromatherapy practice. Considering the professionalisation process and the requirements of the system (health care and Government) a number of potential pathways for the development of aromatherapy practice were explored. The findings and discussion have relevance to other complementary and alternative modalities endeavouring to professionalise and or increase their status within the Australian health care system. In addition the study considers the related public felt dissatisfaction and revealed false consciousness relating to a broader social change and the integration of holistic and biomedical practices in health care.

Thesis (M.S.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1992. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 63).

Thesis (M.S. in electrical engineering)--Washington State University. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a chronic functional disorder of the gastrointestinal system with prevalence in adults of 10-20%. IBS is characterised by a number of troublesome symptoms including abdominal bloating, pain and excess gas, and has substantial impact on quality of life in addition to wider economic implications. Conventional medical treatment can be problematic however, due to the lack of established aetiology and the number of symptoms reported. Concurrently, use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to relieve IBS symptoms is reported to be as high as 50%, although the benefits and impact of such treatments are not fully substantiated by primary research data. However, evidence has shown that people affected may benefit from psychological interventions in terms of reduced use of health care services and reported symptoms. This thesis has examined psychological factors that influence the use of CAM and quality of life in individuals affected by IBS. These factors were explored within the theoretical framework of an extended common-sense model of illness representations (CSM), which incorporated treatment beliefs. The main aim of the thesis was twofold: to examine the illness perceptions and treatment beliefs that influence CAM use and to explore pathways from illness and treatment representation to quality of life in CAM-users and those not using CAM (non-users). A web-based cross-sectional study and minimum six month time-period follow-up study were conducted. Participants were primarily recruited from an IBS self-help network in the UK and other online message boards. The cross-sectional study (n=63) considered illness perceptions and treatment beliefs associated with CAM use and how these factors differed in influencing coping strategies and quality of life in CAM-users and non-users. The follow-up study (n=197) focused on exploration of the influence of illness perceptions and treatment beliefs at study time one, on coping strategies and quality of life at study time two. The findings demonstrated that components of illness perceptions influenced CAM use, coping strategies and quality of life. Treatment beliefs were more strongly implicated in influencing the use of CAM. At the cross-sectional stage, stronger perceptions of illness consequences and emotional representations were major influences on reduced reported quality of life measures and poorer emotional outcomes in both survey groups, where similar strength effects were observed. There were many observed instances of of partial mediation of maladaptive and dysfunctional coping strategies such as self-blame and behavioural disengagement. In addition, follow up data demonstrated a reduction of the influence of illness perceptions (time one) on quality of life (time two)compared to the cross-sectional data. Moreover, evidence of mediation effects was only detected in CAM-users in the follow-up study. These results highlight the importance of psychological factors, in particular illness perceptions, and to an extent, treatment beliefs in influencing coping strategies, quality of life and emotional outcome in those affected by IBS. Practical and theoretical implications of the findings are considered and future applications discussed. This thesis concludes with the proposal of a novel conceptual model to utilise a mulitconvergent approach to enhance the quality of life and emotional outcomes in those affected bt IBS.

Class of 2011 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study is to gain knowledge about pharmacists’ use and recommendations toward complementary and alternative medicine in the state of Arizona. METHODS: Samples were obtained through an online survey. Members from Arizona Pharmacy Alliance (AzPA) were emailed asking them to participate in an online survey. The sample size was all the pharmacists who are members of AzPA and have an email address, about 900 pharmacists. There were 187 responses, giving a response rate of 21%. The questionnaire was developed using questions from previous studies of pharmacists, physicians, and nurses. Demographic information collected included age, number of years practicing, ethnicity, sex and type of pharmacy he/she practices in. RESULTS: Pharmacists who have been treated with CAM personally are more likely to agree that CAM is a useful supplement to conventional medicines (p<0.001). Pharmacists who do not use CAM regularly to treat their own symptoms or illnesses were less likely to think CAM is a useful supplement to conventional medicine (p<0.001) and less likely to think CAM should be integrated into main stream western medicine (p<0.001). Pharmacists practicing greater than 20 years are more likely to think that their attitude toward alternative medicine has changed substantially over the past few years (p=0.028) and are more likely to think CAM should be integrated into western medicine (p=0.036) compared to those practicing less than 10 years. CONCLUSION: Based on the results, the hypothesis that pharmacists with personal CAM use are more likely to recommend or have a positive attitude toward their patients and recommend CAM was supported. The other hypothesis of pharmacists who have more recently graduated from pharmacy school will have a more positive outlook on CAM has been refuted as it was shown that those who have been practicing more than 20 years are more likely to believe CAM should be integrated into Western medicine.

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among U.S. college students and the general public is substantial and growing; however, research on the characteristics of college students who use CAM and the factors that influence their decision to use CAM is scarce. The present study applied the sociobehavioral model of healthcare utilization to the examination of CAM utilization in a sample of college students in the western U.S. A total of 592 college students from ages 18-52 from two universities within the western U.S. completed a web-based survey assessing the relationships between their demographic characteristics, health locus of control beliefs, religious and spiritual beliefs, and physical and mental health status and their lifetime and past 12-month use of CAM across five domains (alternative medicine systems, biologically based therapies, manipulative and body based treatments, mind-body medicine, and energy medicine). Statistically significant relationships were found between CAM use and biological sex, financial dependency status, internal health locus of control, mental health status, and bodily pain. These predictors were combined, along with college attended, according to the sociobehavioral model of healthcare utilization and tested for their predictive efficacy. One hundred percent of those surveyed reported use of at least one type of CAM practice within their lifetime, and 88% reported use of at least one type of CAM practice within the last year. The interventions used most by college students in this study were deep breathing exercises (50.7%), yoga (39.7%), massage (37.8%), meditation (35.8%), pilates (20.4%), and chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation (20.1%). Moreover, they endorsed using these practices for the promotion of general wellness, improvement of psychological functioning, and alleviation of pain. Multiple linear regression analyses of these variables revealed that their combination explained from 4.0% to 17.6% of the variance in CAM use in this sample. Results indicated that this model can be successfully applied to CAM use. These findings were evaluated and compared with previous findings regarding CAM use in both general population and college student samples. Specific implications for the fields of psychology, medicine, and health education within the areas of practice and research are discussed.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-105). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

The use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is now widespread and endeavours are increasingly being made to incorporate CAM into conventional healthcare and move towards Integrative Medicine (IM). To date research has primarily focused on the prevalence of use, and safety and efficacy of CAM; less is known about patients' experiences of and reasons for using specific therapies. While therapeutically diverse, it has been suggested that many CAM modalities share mutually referential ideologies and that people who use them may be motivated to do so by specific health beliefs. This study focuses on traditional acupuncture in a New Zealand context and investigates users' experiences and perceptions of the therapy, and discusses how personal health beliefs influence usage. A systematic review of relevant international qualitative research informed the main study, which was carried out using an interpretive phenomenological methodology (Heidegger's approach). Data was gathered from interviews with 12 participants who had recently received treatment from traditionally trained (non-biomedical) acupuncturists. Thematic analysis suggested that acupuncture was often sought for health conditions (typically of a chronic and benign nature) that are difficult to treat conventionally. Whereas initial access was primarily motivated by ineffective biomedical treatment, personal health beliefs-particularly subscription to holistic and vitalistic ideologies-often inspired more extensive and ongoing use. The therapeutic encounter was interpreted to contain many elements-other than needling-integral to treatment. Outcomes were perceived to be wide ranging, personal and necessarily subjective, and included the relief of symptoms, increased well-being, and changes to understandings and health behaviours. It is concluded that the attraction of acupuncture for patients and many of its perceived benefits lie in therapeutic components that are ultimately embedded in Chinese medicine (holistic) theories of health. A more pluralistic schema for assessing evidence may be necessary to acknowledge treatment outcomes that are meaningful to patients, and to accommodate the divergent ontologies and practice models of acupuncture, other CAMs and biomedicine. Increased interdisciplinary cooperation and communication is suggested as a means to improve patient safety and satisfaction and as a scenario for moving forward with IM.