Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and the Public Health: an Innovative Healthcare Practice in Supporting and Sustaining Health and Well-Being

Abstract

Healthcare services across Europe face increasing pressure on service provision within a context of tight resource constraints, population ageing, an ever-increasing burden of chronic illness and multiple co-morbidities. However, a very low, average of 3% of resources is spent on prevention. With the publication of Health 2020, a resurgence of public health, with its focus on promoting and protecting the health of communities, becomes a real possibility. This paper explores the potential of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) as an innovative practice to enhance health and well-being, and thus public health. Beginning with an overview of CAMís core values and principles and evidence on its prevalence and user popularity, the paper focuses on the need to extend the notion of what counts as an outcome and the criticality of model validity in evaluating any CAM. Research evidence is presented on the potential value of CAM, with particular focus on indings from two case studies, one of traditional acupuncture, illustrating the importance of assessing outcome patterns, and the other of shiatsu illustrating the potential for enhancing critical health literacy. The set of emerging evidence points to CAMís potential to develop clientsí critical health literacy, through enhancing awareness of the mind-body-lifestyle inter-connections and supporting enhanced control over their own lives. It argues that CAM has major potential to complement and add to individualsí healing practices with a view to its provision within integrative healthcare practice.