The main purpose of the proposed research is to explore the use of complementary medicine among families participating in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), in order to examine the implications of this for health care provision in Bristol.

Specific objectives to be addressed are:

* To examine why families (within ALSPAC) use complementary medicine and the implications of this for NHS patient care in Bristol.

* To investigatewhich particular complementary medicines are used by different family members and for what reasons.

• To examine where family members access complementary medicine (e.g. private complementary therapists, over-the-counter complementary medicines, complementary medicine within the NHS) and the reasons for this.
• To investigate the sources of information on complementary medicine used by family members and how they make judgements about the quality or trustworthiness of that information.
• To investigate whether families/family members disclose their complementary medicine use to NHS health professionals and the implications of this for their NHS care and professional-patient relationships.
• To explore how families/family members integrate complementary medicine use with conventional NHS healthcare.