ABSTRACT
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is an emerging and increasingly popular group of treatments, therapies and philosophies of health and wellbeing. It is a fascinating and fast-changing area of social life, which also poses an interesting challenge to current healthcare delivery and policy making.
This reader presents a lively and engaging collection of classic, controversial and new readings on CAM and covers issues including:
- changes in the way CAM is developing and being delivered
- holism and what this concept means to CAM practice
- changes in consumption and the health consumer that have lead to increased interest in CAM
- the safety and effectiveness of CAM treatments
- how integration is being achieved in contemporary society.
The text provides insight into many of the current and complex issues surrounding CAM, and will appeal to everyone who is concerned with, or who has an interest in, complementary and alternative healthcare. The book will be essential reading for students of CAM, health studies, nursing, medicine and allied health subjects, as well as medical sociology and modern health policy.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
section Section 1|85 pages
CAM in Context
chapter Chapter 1|6 pages
The Basic Concepts of Alternative Medicine and Their Impact on Our Views of Health
chapter Chapter 3|7 pages
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Socially Constructed or Evidence-Based?
chapter Chapter 7|6 pages
Complementary Medicine: New Approaches to Good Practice: Summary and Recommendations
chapter Chapter 8|8 pages
Ethical Problems Arising in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
section Section 2|55 pages
Users, Practitioners and Health Beliefs: The Healing Relationship in CAM
chapter Chapter 13|12 pages
I'm Not Ill, It's Just This Back: Osteopathic Treatment, Responsibility and Back Problems
section Section 3|67 pages
CAM in Different Settings
chapter Chapter 17|11 pages
Small Business Complementary Medicine: A Profile of Therapists and Their Pathways to Practice
chapter Chapter 18|10 pages
Complementary Therapy Provision in Primary Care – Policy Considerations Based on Case Studies in Practice
section Section 4|66 pages
Regulation, Professionalisation and Education: Change and Diversity
chapter Chapter 28|8 pages
Regulating Complementary and Alternative Medicine: The Case of Acupuncture
chapter Chapter 30|8 pages
Accora the Healer: A Case Study of Deception and Fraudulent Identity in Healing
section Section 5|50 pages
Evidence and Efficacy
chapter Chapter 31|8 pages
Assessing Efficacy of Complementary Medicine: Adding Qualitative Research Methods to the ‘Gold Standard’
chapter Chapter 32|5 pages
Evidence-Based Complementary Medicine: Rigour, Relevance, and the Swampy Lowlands
chapter Chapter 34|13 pages
Quality, Efficacy and Safety of Complementary Medicines: Fashions, Facts and the Future. Efficacy and Safety
section Section 6|72 pages
CAM in Practice: Diversity, Integrations and Development