The Psychosocial Aspects of Complementary and Alternative Medicine
The Psychosocial Aspects of Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Approximately one in four persons in the United States uses complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Out-of-pocket costs of CAM rival medical treatment at $21.2-32.7 billion versus $29.3 billion, respectively. Users of CAM tend to have high incomes and high levels of education. They also have medical conditions not easily treated by modern medicine such as chronic pain, poor mental health, human immunodeficiency virus infection, and cancer. The most common therapies are noninvasive (acupuncture, chiropractic, massage), however, consumption of dietary supplements has grown dramatically. Patients often use CAM in addition to modern medicine and are reluctant to discuss CAM with their physicians. Pharmacists' professional approach to science may bias them against CAM therapies. Complementary and alternative medicine use should be included in visit histories and discussed in an objective, nonjudgmental manner to encourage patient disclosure.
"... science must be understood as a social phenomenon, a gutsy, human enterprise, not the work of robots programmed to collect pure information."
Stephen Jay Gould, The Mismeasure of Man
To say that the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) experienced a dramatic rise over the past decade is an understatement. From $94 million in 1990, consumers spent an estimated $663 million on medicinal botanicals alone in 1998. With the passage of the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act (DSHEA) in 1994 and the establishment of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) by the National Institutes of Health, the prominence and popularity of CAM has skyrocketed. Much of CAM's prominence is consumer driven. The patient's desire to turn to relatively unproven therapies may seem puzzling when rigorously tested alternatives exist. Thus, an exploration of the psychosocial issues involved with CAM can help to determine which individuals may be predisposed to using CAM, which therapies they use, and their rationale for using them.
Approximately one in four persons in the United States uses complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Out-of-pocket costs of CAM rival medical treatment at $21.2-32.7 billion versus $29.3 billion, respectively. Users of CAM tend to have high incomes and high levels of education. They also have medical conditions not easily treated by modern medicine such as chronic pain, poor mental health, human immunodeficiency virus infection, and cancer. The most common therapies are noninvasive (acupuncture, chiropractic, massage), however, consumption of dietary supplements has grown dramatically. Patients often use CAM in addition to modern medicine and are reluctant to discuss CAM with their physicians. Pharmacists' professional approach to science may bias them against CAM therapies. Complementary and alternative medicine use should be included in visit histories and discussed in an objective, nonjudgmental manner to encourage patient disclosure.
"... science must be understood as a social phenomenon, a gutsy, human enterprise, not the work of robots programmed to collect pure information."
Stephen Jay Gould, The Mismeasure of Man
To say that the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) experienced a dramatic rise over the past decade is an understatement. From $94 million in 1990, consumers spent an estimated $663 million on medicinal botanicals alone in 1998. With the passage of the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act (DSHEA) in 1994 and the establishment of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) by the National Institutes of Health, the prominence and popularity of CAM has skyrocketed. Much of CAM's prominence is consumer driven. The patient's desire to turn to relatively unproven therapies may seem puzzling when rigorously tested alternatives exist. Thus, an exploration of the psychosocial issues involved with CAM can help to determine which individuals may be predisposed to using CAM, which therapies they use, and their rationale for using them.
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