No Use for Doctors’ Orders: Class and Culture in Deliberate Refusals of Medical Care

• In Event: 2184 - Section on Medical Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 09. Treatment Adherence and Navigating Care

Abstract

Why do some people actively reject conventional medicine in favor of complementary or alternative methods while others do not? And how is that decision to reject conventional medicine shaped by social groups based in culture and class? Research suggests that medical non-adherence, or the process of failing to follow a doctor’s recommendations, is on the rise (Salmon et al. 2015). Though researchers know a good deal about people who refuse medical care because of financial reasons (Bengle et al. 2010; Wade et al. 2017) or fear of side effects (Gardner et al. 2007; Perkins et al. 2008), we know very little about those who deliberately refuse care. Furthermore, though past studies hint at the importance of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the rejection of conventional healthcare (Richardson et al. 2000; Barnes, Bloom and Nahin 2008), we know almost nothing about how the use of alternative medicine is related to healthcare decisions. In this paper, I focus on middle class “natural healer” parents, meaning parents who reject some form of conventional medicine for themselves or their children in favor of alternative treatments that they deem more in line with nature. Drawing on data from twenty-two interviews, I find that natural healers reject conventional medicine not as part of a unified belief system, but rather as the result of “push” and “pull” factors. Push factors include negative experiences with conventional medicine, particularly those characterized by disrespect from doctors. Pull factors include positive experiences with CAM, as well as knowing someone who has experience with CAM treatments. Ultimately, natural healing respondents combined these push/pull factors into a single narrative that characterized the shift from conventional to alternative medicine as one of honoring their intuition and trusting themselves.

Author

• Lindsay Wood Glassman, University of Pennsylvania