Experiences of Chinese medicine in a rural community

This paper presents some of the findings from a broader anthropological study, describing types of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) used by low-income rural residents in Victoria, Australia. Mixed qualitative and anthropological methods of data collection and analysis were relied on, mainly observation and in-depth interviews. Chinese medicine (CM) was among the most popular types of CAM consumed and practised by the Australian rural respondents of the study. Over half of those formally interviewed consumed and/or practised some form of Chinese medicine. Consumers displayed great curiosity about CM, a sense of involvement in the preparation and taking of herbal medicines, and considerable trust in practitioners. An important realisation from this study is that healing traditions are seen to be continually changing over time, through what is effectively a folk process, and by cultural adaptation in diverse locations