Therapeutic Pluralism: Exploring the Experiences of Cancer Patients and Professionals

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has achieved an ever-higher profile over the last decade and its benefits have been most especially evident in cancer care. Moreover, cancer policy - in the UK and elsewhere - has been moving towards a more rounded and less traditionally medical approach. Despite this increasingly important role, we don't know much about how and why people use CAMs and why they are so popular amongst cancer patients. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in the UK, this book includes over 120 interviews with patients and professionals, plus innovative 'diary' data which, for the first time, provides access to the experiences of CAM users. It provides the first systematic analysis of issues such as: - the development of patient preferences and influences on decision making - expectations of CAM, and interpretations of 'success' - the role of varying forms of evidence - the role of social inequality and inter-professional conflicts in mediating and shaping patients' experiences of cancer and their use of CAMs - concepts of science and rationality. This book is essential reading for students and researchers of medical sociology, complementary and alternative medicine and cancer. It will also be of use to medical and health professionals, and policy-makers with an interest in complementary and alternative medicine.Alex Broom is the author of 'Therapeutic Pluralism: Exploring the Experiences of Cancer Patients and Professionals', published 2008 under ISBN 9780415398527 and ISBN 0415398525.