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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Adam Burke, PhD, MPH, LAc and Rick Harvey, PhD, MS. Health Education, San Francisco State University, SFSU, 1600 Holloway Ave, San Francisco, CA 94132, 415-338-1774, aburke@sfsu.edu

Background The US is witnessing dramatic growth in the use of complimentary and alternative medicine (CAM). Individuals use CAM for a variety of reasons including seeking integrative solutions to complex conditions, such as chronic pain. Another reason posited for CAM use is having ‘alternative' cultural values. Methods A 24-item survey was administered to students enrolled in Holistic Health classes during the Spring semester of 2005 (n=275). The survey included questions on participant background, use of alternative health practices (from a list of 30), perceived benefits of taking Holistic Health courses, and self-reported identification with 6 different ‘alternative' social values (as defined in the US demographic study described in The Cultural Creatives, Ray, 2000), including environmentalism, social justice, and women's rights. These 6 items were factor analyzed and 4 with the highest correlations (above 0.8) were included in a composite ‘alternativeness' variable. Results The sample was predominantly female (70.8%), average age 25.4, with more Caucasian (44.3%) and API (30.2%) participants. Use of alternative health practices ranged from none for iridology to 70% using meditation. The majority found the Holistic Health classes to be highly important in their lives. When the composite ‘alternativeness' variable was correlated with use of alternative health practices it was found to be moderately associated (Spearman correlation r=0.428; p<.01). Conclusions The notion that cultural values are related to CAM use is supported, although the correlation is not large. Other factors need to be considered as potentially important driving forces, such as health status and CAM knowledge.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. Be able to define the notion of Cultural Creative;
• 2. Be able to describe the hypothesized relationship between alternativeness and CAM use;
• 3. Be able to describe several forces that may drive CAM use.

Keywords: Alternative Medicine/Therapies, Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered