The Use Of Complementary Therapies In Western Sydney

This paper, based on a survey of 523 people in the western region of Sydney (Australia), explores the responses of a cross-sectional sample in terms of what respondents considered to be complementary therapeutics, who is using them, and how often. The paper also explores in a limited way some of the reasons for using complementary therapeutics and, in particular, why some people had elected not to use complementary therapeutics. Although past studies have been limited by the absence of a sound theoretical base for the understanding of complementary therapeutics and their use, the findings lend support to a pluralist vis-‡-vis post- modernist explanation.