The current study implements a qualitative explanatory framework of consumer acculturation to explore the perceptions of Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) among recently medicated persons from three different ethnic and racial groups: whites, Latino minority (English-speakers), and Latino minority (Spanish-speakers) to understand the social mechanisms that contribute to differences in perceptions of and experiences with CAM use. Findings suggest that there is a continuum of receptivity to CAM use based on levels of acculturation. Latinos speaking primarily English mirrored patterns of CAM use among non-Hispanic whites which showed that CAM is complementary rather than a substitute for conventional care. For Spanish-speaking Latinos, CAM was more about expressions of a culture rooted in ethnicity and acculturation. For Spanish-speaking Latinos, CAM is about identity and part of a culture-making process.

当前的研究实现了消费者文化的定性解释框架探索来自三个不同种族和种族群体（白人，拉丁裔（英语）和拉丁裔（西班牙语））的新近服药者对补充替代医学（CAM）的看法，以了解造成差异的社会机制对CAM使用的看法和经验。研究结果表明，根据适应程度的不同，人们对CAM的使用具有连续性。在非西班牙裔白人中，拉丁裔主要讲英语，这反映了CAM使用的镜像模式，这表明CAM是传统护理的补充而不是替代。对于讲西班牙语的拉丁裔，CAM更多地是关于植根于种族和文化的文化的表达。对于讲西班牙语的拉丁美洲人，CAM是关于身份的认同，是文化创造过程的一部分。