The use, care and policy of complementary and integrative practices in primary health care

Abstract

The use of Complementary and Integrative Practices (CIP) is on the increase and its institutionalization in Primary Health Care (PHC) is a challenge. This article discusses the use, care, and policies of CIP at international and national levels found in the indexed literature. A review of the literature in PubMed/Medline and the Virtual Health Library was conducted using the key search words “Homeopathy,” “Acupuncture,” “Herbal Medicine,” “Body Practices,” “Primary Health Care” and other related terms in English, Spanish and Portuguese between 2002 and 2011. The use in the literature of CIP for the treatment of specific diseases from a biomedical perspective was observed, as well as evaluations of its use for the treatment of specific diseases focused on the reaction of the users and professionals and the analysis of the political, economic and social viability of CIP in health services. The conclusion drawn is that what is predominant in the literature is the quest for the scientific validation of CIP and a biomedical methodological bias in the designs of the studies, which does not contribute to clarifying the potential care of CIP in PHC.