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.

Much information has been published regarding herbal medication use. However, information is limited on how nurses incorporate this information into their practice, communicate information to the client, or collaborate with physicians to prevent drug/herbal interactions. The purpose of this study is to explore the attitudes and knowledge of nurses regarding the use of herbal remedies at various levels of practice. According to Henderson's Theory of Basic Care Components, the nurse has a responsibility to assess client needs, help clients meet health needs, and provide a safe environment for the client to perform activities unaided. These interventions help the client become complete, whole and independent. These skills are blended when teaching about herbal/drug interactions. A convenience sample of RNs and LPNs (n=51) from a southern Kentucky hospital was used in this study. After informed consent was obtained, a researcher developed questionnaire with 15 knowledge-based, multiple choice questions and 10 attitude-based, Likert scaled questions were given. The study was conducted using a preand posttest design with an educational in-service intervention. Sample demographic data revealed 96% to be female, with a mean age of 39.2 years, 53% hold an ADN, 16% a BSN, and 4% a MSN. Average years of experience were nine years. Chi-squared tests showed no significance as a function of age, gender, education, years of experience or area of practice in baseline knowledge. T-tests for related samples revealed a change in mean score from 9.0 on the pre-test to 12.0 on the post-test. (T=8.63) (p=0.001). Further research in this field is needed before generalization can be made. Consumers use herbal medications to reduce health care costs. Knowledge of herbal medications can prevent dangerous interactions with prescription medications.

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.

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.

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.

The importance of spirituality in relation to mental well-being and physical health is currently well regarded in the academic literature. Therefore spiritual care is now considered an important aspect of holistic healing practices. However, research is showing that most health care providers do not feel competent or confident in this area of care. In this thesis I explore how spiritual care is understood and experienced by practitioners in aged and palliative care in a regional area on the coast of New South Wales. The 26 participants, whose insights and experiences are depicted in this thesis, were very happy to be involved in this qualitative research project, because they felt that they now had the opportunity to explore spirituality and spiritual care.The participants in this research describe spiritual care as involving doing in the form of religious practices, such as praying or bible readings and non-religious activities that were seen as spiritual such as talking about dying, touching people or reminiscing. Additionally, they also commented about spiritual care as a special way of being with clients, which involved qualities and attitudes that were clearly felt or recognized by the participants as special. Not necessarily labeled as spiritual care, this special way of being was described as not being separate, but being an integral part of the daily acts of caring such as feeding a patient or preparing them for a bath. Participants found it often difficult to elaborate on what made such an interaction spiritual or how to describe the quality of these interactions as there seemed to be no familiar language to share the experiences of spirituality and spiritual care. Additionally, participants commented quite regularly that, although spiritual care was seen as important, there were many factors that inhibited these practices. In reflecting on these issues I put forward that, although the practitioners in this research are familiar with spiritual care, the most important contribution to encouraging health care providers to feel more confident is to continue conversations about spiritual care to increase competency in a non-denominational spiritual discourse in aged and palliative care.

Crude foliar extracts of sixty species from six subfamilies of Australian Lamiaceae were screened by whole organism contact toxicity on the polyphagous mite Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae). In addition, cytotoxicity assessments against insect cell lines from Spodoptera frugiperda J.E.Smith (Lepidoptera : Noctuidae) and Drosophila melanogaster Meigen (Diptera: Drosophilidae) were also made. The findings indicated that the Spodoptera cell line was more susceptible to extracts than the Drosophila cell line and no direct correlation was observed between the two screening methods. However, several interesting relationships were identified. Extracts from sub-families Ajugoideae, Scutellarioideae, Chloanthoideae, Viticoideae and Nepetoideae showed acaricidal activity, whilst only those from Ajugoideae and Nepetoideae displayed potent cytotoxic effects. A range of activities was observed for the 25 species of Plectranthus, 14 of which showed moderate to high contact toxicity against T. urticae. Overall, least promising bioactivity was observed for extracts from the plant subfamily Prostantheroideae, which showed little contact toxicity or cytotoxicity for the 18 extracts studied. Greatest cytotoxicity was observed from a methanol extract of leaf material of Glossocarya calcicola Domin. Bioassay guided fractionation led to the discovery of three novel clerodane diterpenes, which were not present in the stems or at all in the closely related species G. hemiderma. Compound 1 was characterised as (rel)-10âH-trans-12î-(2-methylbut-2(E)-enoyl)-1â-(isobutanoyl)-6á,13î-dihydroxyclerodan-4(20),8(18)-dien-7,15-dione-15,16-oxide, to which the trivial name calcicolin-A was assigned. The other two compounds had the same skeletal structure and C-12 substituent but in compound 2 (calcicolin-B), the C-1 esterifying group became 2-methylbut-2(E)-enoic acid and in 3 (calcicolin-C) it became 2-methylbutanoic acid. Although insect antifeeding activity was not observed for G. calcicola, cytotoxicity against insect and human carcinoma cell lines was detected. Greatest acaricidal activity was observed for Plectranthus diversus S.T.Blake when topically applied (LC50 = 0.25% (w/v)). The major compound present in the extract of P. diversus was identified as the known compound 7á,18-dihydroxy-isopimara-8(14),15-diene. These findings were of chemotaxonomic significance as this is the first known occurrence of a pimarane diterpene in Plectranthus, a genus characterised by abietane diterpenes. A number of abietanes were isolated and identified in this study, though none of which were novel. Promising cytotoxicity was observed from P. fasciculatus P.I.Forst., which was attributed to coleon U, a known abietane diterpene with cytotoxic activity. Other species of Plectranthus showed potential acaricidal activity as a crude extract in particular P. graveolens R.Br. (LC50 = 0.76% (w/v)). Bioassay guided fractionation did reveal some interesting behavioural effects on mites but in general the fractions were less toxic than the whole extract. The hexane-soluble components of the methanol extract were extremely effective against mites and while the mode of action was not fully understood, it is possible that a smothering effect could be the cause. A potted plant trial was also carried out for this species to determine the effects of crude extract. At time = 112 h post treatment, a concentration response in mite mortality was observed. The control and 0.5% (w/v) treatment were not significantly different to one another but had significantly larger numbers of mites than the 1.0 and 1.5% (w/v) treatment. These results showed that the crude methanol extract of Plectranthus graveolens showed acaricidal efficacy against Tetranychus urticae in a leaf disc and a potted plant trial at concentrations of 1% (w/v) or above with no phytotoxic effects. The repellency and antifeeding effects of some plant extracts were evaluated against Plutella xylostella L. (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) in a choice and no-choice bioassay. The most outstanding results were observed for Ajuga australis L. against both second and third instar larvae. The active constituents were present as minor compounds, thus detailed spectroscopic analysis was not adequately performed. However, the compounds were believed to be known clerodane diterpenes that have been previously isolated from this and other species of Ajuga.

This Reflective Topical Autobiography (RTA) aimed to reflect on and recount my own actual life stories and the life lessons learned, in order to identify patterns, trends and insights from my life and to offer these insights to others. My objectives were to promote personal empowerment as a tool for fulfilling individual potential, and to heal and be healed, by taking personal responsibility and making choices that enhance the individual and thus the collective consciousness.The research questions I posed to myself to assist in reflecting on and recounting my life stories were: What are the key stories of my life? What life lessons have I learned from my experiences? What are the patterns, trends and insights from my life? How can I offer these insights to other people? The RTA activities included writing personal stories, reflecting on my life patterns, trends and insights, and using photographs and a DVD production, to illustrate the main ideas and events.The research process allowed me to move from being reactive to reflective and to answer the research questions. Some of my life lessons learned from my experiences are that: one person can make a difference; lack of money is not lack of personal power; and nothing is impossible. My life patterns and trends include having a high-energy lifestyle, living without fear, learning to deal with disappointments, keeping life records, taking responsibility for action, and creating a morphic field. This RTA also offers insights to other people, with whom they resonate.It became apparent to me, in the process of documenting my personal journey in this RTA, that by suspending judgement and keeping an open mind and open heart, I am able to attune to what I call ‘Divine Intelligence’. It is a deep cellular knowing, that we are all connected. In 32 years of my own development, I have witnessed quantum leaps in the disciplines of science, spirit, ancient wisdom and health, which are acknowledged in the academies of the world. There is a new way of seeing and thinking, which is about a future based on these holistic principles of interconnectedness. It is the contention of this RTA that thoughts and intentions are the tools for personal and global change.

Syftet med denna systematiska litteraturstudie var att beskriva de psykosociala och existentiella behov som kan uppstå hos kvinnor med bröstcancer samt i hur stor utsträckning bröstcancerpatienter upplever att dessa behov tillgodoses i vården. Dessutom var syftet att få en uppfattning om betydelsen av komplementär och alternativ medicin för bröstcancerdrabbade kvinnor. De vetenskapliga artiklar (n=25) som ingick i studien söktes datoriserat samt manuellt och en kvalitetsgranskning gjordes av litteraturen utifrån olika bedömningsformulär. Resultaten visar att de behov som uppstod hos kvinnorna med bröstcancer var behov av stöd, behov av information samt behov av kontinuitet i sjukvården. Majoriteten av kvinnorna upplevde att det psykosociala och existentiella stödet i sjukvården samt den information de fick hade stora brister. Detta ansågs i stor utsträckning bero på en bristfällig kontinuitet. De komplementär- och alternativmedicinska behandlingarna visade sig vara mycket betydelsefulla då de i stor utsträckning tillgodosåg de psykosociala och existentiella behoven hos bröstcancerpatienterna. Behandlingarna minskade psykiska symtom som oro, ångest och depression avsevärt hos kvinnorna samt hjälpte dem att hantera och bearbeta känslor förknippade med cancerdiagnosen och nå ett accepterande av sin sjukdom. Kontinuiteten upplevdes dock ibland som bristfällig även inom den komplementär- och alternativmedicinska vården.