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The article, firstly, deals with some definitions and classifications of medicines generated in the social science and biomedical fields. Then, the author proposes a systematization of medicines, incorporating new categories, as well as the notion of ethno-medical configuration, to explain healthcare in intercultural contexts. The categories introduced are biomedicine, traditional medicine, alternative medicine, religious therapy or medicine, and lay-treatment. Finally, as an illustrative example, the paper focuses on the ethno-medical configuration of the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The goal of this systematization is proposing categories that consider the understandings and behaviors of social actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article, firstly, deals with some definitions and classifications of medicines generated in the social science and biomedical fields. Then, the author proposes a systematization of medicines, incorporating new categories, as well as the notion of ethno-medical configuration, to explain healthcare in intercultural contexts. The categories introduced are biomedicine, traditional medicine, alternative medicine, religious therapy or medicine, and lay-treatment. Finally, as an illustrative example, the paper focuses on the ethno-medical configuration of the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The goal of this systematization is proposing categories that consider the understandings and behaviors of social actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the kinesiology users' perceptions among middle class individuals of the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires city, linking these perceptions with the view of the alternative medicines offer, especially the options that include corporal-work techniques. The article mainly explores the individuals' ways of healing of whom have selected the option of alternative therapies, which are the most of the cases recorded during the field-work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]