TY - JOUR
T1 - Paradigm shifts in health care
T2 - Consumers' personal theories of health
AU - Kleine, Susan Schultz
AU - Hughner, Renée Shaw
PY - 1999
Y1 - 1999
N2 - Health care in the United States is undergoing a profound change as reflected by the increasing availability and use of alternative health care goods and services such as acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic, or herbalism. With this change comes a shift in consumers' mindsets about health. The article describes an exploratory study that identifies four theories of health that are held among consumers. The results demonstrate that consumers' mindsets about health are not watered-down versions of practitioners' viewpoints, nor do consumers' beliefs neatly correspond to any orthodox approach to health care. Instead, their personal theories are complex amalgams of tacit knowledge and new information, often combining ideas from belief systems that are incommensurate or contradictory. Implications for health care consumer research and health care practice are discussed.
AB - Health care in the United States is undergoing a profound change as reflected by the increasing availability and use of alternative health care goods and services such as acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic, or herbalism. With this change comes a shift in consumers' mindsets about health. The article describes an exploratory study that identifies four theories of health that are held among consumers. The results demonstrate that consumers' mindsets about health are not watered-down versions of practitioners' viewpoints, nor do consumers' beliefs neatly correspond to any orthodox approach to health care. Instead, their personal theories are complex amalgams of tacit knowledge and new information, often combining ideas from belief systems that are incommensurate or contradictory. Implications for health care consumer research and health care practice are discussed.
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U2 - 10.1177/153321019900500302
DO - 10.1177/153321019900500302
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:6444221294
SN - 1533-2101
VL - 5
SP - 187
EP - 202
JO - Complementary Health Practice Review
JF - Complementary Health Practice Review
IS - 3
ER -