Complementary therapies in medicine
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Complement Ther Med · Feb 2012
Comparative StudyA pilot study to compare the views of traditionally trained and CAM-trained therapists using the clinical exemplar of the management of neck/upper limb pain to assess barriers to effective integration of approaches.
In the UK, patients frequently choose complementary (CAM) therapies, particularly for chronic painful musculoskeletal conditions. It is widely agreed that better integration of complementary and traditional healthcare is desirable. We piloted the Benefits and Risks of Treatment Questionnaire to compare the views of different healthcare practitioners about traditional and alternative approaches in one clinical scenario in order to assess barriers to effective integration. ⋯ The Beliefs about Risks and Benefits of Treatments Questionnaire can be applied using a postal approach and achieves similar response rates to other surveys amongst healthcare practitioners. Despite widespread agreement that increased integration of traditional and alternative approaches is desirable, the results of this study suggest that experienced practitioners show the strongest belief in the benefit of approaches closest to their own training and background and the most wariness of risk to those therapies furthest from their background.