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US South Asian Youths’ Perspectives on the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)

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Abstract

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) includes varied medical and healthcare systems, healing practices, and products that are outside of allopathy/biomedicine. The aim of this study was to examine US South Asian youths’ beliefs, practices, decision-making, and experiences of using CAM. Ten focus group discussions with 36 participants were conducted. Data were coded deductively and inductively by four coders, working in pairs. Thematic analysis was performed. Disagreements were resolved through consensus. The results showed that CAM was appealing because of its often low cost, ease of access, family traditions to use CAM, and the perception that it was safe to use. Participants exercised pluralistic health choices. Some responses suggested a hierarchy wherein allopathy was used for serious, acute issues, and CAM for much of the remaining issues. The high use of and trust in CAM among young US South Asians raises important issues (e.g., provider support and integration to prevent potential interactions and avoid delaying allopathic treatment). More exploration is needed about the decision-making processes of US South Asian youth, including the perceived benefits/limitations of allopathy and CAM. US healthcare practitioners should familiarize themselves with South Asian social and cultural beliefs about healing to provide culturally-appropriate services and enhance patient care.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr J P Leider and Dr Supriya Misra, for their helpful comments on the manuscript.

Funding

Data collection for this study was funded by an internal grant from California State University, East Bay.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, California State University East Bay, Hayward, CA, USA

    Nidhi Khosla & Lindsay Hahn

  2. Department of General Internal Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Christine Tran

Authors
  1. Nidhi Khosla
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  2. Lindsay Hahn
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  3. Christine Tran
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Contributions

The first author conceptualized the study, did participant recruitment, data analysis, and writing. The second and third authors contributed to writing the literature review and discussion sections.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nidhi Khosla.

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Ethics Approval

The study was approved by the IRB of California State University, East Bay.

Consent to Participate

All the participants were explained about the study verbally, and they completed a written informed consent process before participating in the study.

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Not applicable; information presented is deidentified.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Khosla, N., Hahn, L. & Tran, C. US South Asian Youths’ Perspectives on the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-023-01672-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-023-01672-9

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