Exploring Biomedicalization Through Complementary and Alternative Medicine in a Postsocialist Context

Area of Science:

• Sociology of Health and Medicine
• Medical Anthropology
• Postsocialist Studies

Background:

• Examines the complex interplay between biomedicine and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the postsocialist context.
• Investigates the concept of biomedicalization and its applicability to CAM.
• Highlights the need for nuanced understanding of health care transformations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the transformative processes of biomedicalization within and in relation to CAM in the Czech Republic.
• To challenge the simplistic view of CAM succumbing to biomedicine.
• To analyze the role of CAM practices in shaping contemporary healthcare developments.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative fieldwork in the postsocialist Czech Republic.
• Analysis of the relationship between biomedicalization and CAM.
• Critical examination of the concept of biomedicalization.

Main Results:

• Evidence suggests CAM is not merely adopting biomedical frameworks.
• Specific CAM practices are actively influencing and shaping contemporary healthcare.
• The concept of biomedicalization may oversimplify these transformative processes.

Conclusions:

• CAM's engagement with biomedicalization is a dynamic, two-way process.
• CAM plays a significant role in evolving healthcare landscapes.
• Rethinking the utility of the biomedicalization concept is necessary to capture these complexities.