TABLE 1—

Participants’ Conceptualizations and Uses of Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Southern England, 2002–2003

	Treat	Alternative Treatment	Complementary Treatment	Conventional Treatment
Use	For recreation or as a gift, in the absence of specific health problems requiring treatment	Primarily in place of conventional medicine, when conventional medicine considered unsuccessful or unsuitable; mainly for specific, chronic complaints	Primarily as supplementary or additional to conventional medicine; mainly for ill-defined or mild symptoms, or aspects of a health condition not remedied by conventional treatment	As technical specialties aligned to conventional medicine (e.g., for specific musculoskeletal problems either unresolved by or unsuitable for conventional medicine)
Anticipated benefits	Enjoyment, pampering, general relaxation	Improvement in and understanding of symptoms and general health; participatory, trusting relationship with therapist	Improvement in physical and emotional state; gentle, enjoyable, and individualized treatment	Explanation and effective treatment of musculoskeletal problem
Rationale	Relaxation not considered intrinsic to health (consistent with biomedical model)	Holistic model: physical and emotional health intrinsically linked; “natural” approaches to treatment	Varying combinations of biomedical and holistic models	Physiological/biomechanical model of musculoskeletal functioning
Financial justification	Personal financial cost accepted, valued as luxury consumable	Most see as a legitimate treatment that should be state funded	Mixed opinions about whether it should be state funded or privately funded	Most see it as a legitimate treatment that could be state funded but may accept personal cost as comparable to payment for other types of circumscribed treatment (e.g., spectacles, prescription)