oa Levensfilosofie en zorggebruik in Nederland

Philosophies of life and Health Care Utilization in the Netherlands .

This study investigates to what extent people’s religious denomination relates to health care utilization. Religious denomination is seen as an indicator of a philosophy of life. We distinguish between Christian and Islamic religious and post-modern philosophies of life. Given that modern medical science and ensuing health care interventions are widely accepted, we do not expect a relationship between philosophies of life and the utilization of regular sources of modern health care. However, we do expect differences in areas where more controversy is possible, especially complementary and alternative medicine, but also preventive medicine. As expected, our results show philosophy of life differences in utilization for complementary and alternative medicine.