Why do chronic illness patients decide to use complementary and alternative medicine? A qualitative study

Patient and staff perspectives on pain treatment experiences in a community clinic serving under-resourced older adults

AIMS

Chronic pain affects up to 37.8% of older adults with higher prevalence among those in under-resourced communities. While there are many treatments for chronic pain, there are complexities to treating under-resourced older adults in community clinics, including multimorbidity, barriers to treatment access, and varying degrees of openness to different treatment approaches. Understanding patient and clinic staff perceptions of treatment options for chronic pain is critical for implementing treatment approaches that will work sustainably in the community. This study aimed to understand clinic staff and patients' perspectives on chronic pain treatment experiences.

METHODS

Focus groups and individual interviews were analyzed using a hybrid inductive-deductive approach.

RESULTS

Themes are: (1) Limited patient and clinic resources and availability affecting pain treatment experiences (e.g., copays, transportation challenges, and conflicting responsibilities), (2) Discrepancies in patient and staff approaches to treatment and the importance of trialing different pain management techniques to alleviate pain (e.g., trialing multiple treatments with varied success), and (3) Conflict between patients' desire for pain elimination vs. staffs' focus on symptom reduction and function (e.g., patient-staff disconnect).

CONCLUSIONS

These findings are important for determining how treatments can best fit the needs of under-resourced older adults with chronic pain.

Explore the Status of Communication Between Nursing Staff and Patients on Complementary Therapy Issues

This study investigates the state of communication between nursing staff and patients concerning complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in a university hospital in Taiwan. The study employed a validated cross-sectional survey to gather data from 90 nurses in the internal medicine ward. The results indicate a notable need for more initiation and documentation of CAM discussions by nurses, with less than a quarter recording patients' CAM usage. Barriers such as limited time, access to evidence-based information, and workplace culture were identified as significant obstacles. Additionally, nurse characteristics like age, experience, and seniority also played a role in the extent of CAM communication. The study underscores the urgent need for health care institutions to prioritize CAM communication as a vital component of patient-centered care. It suggests the development of strategies to facilitate proactive discussions and referrals.

Practice recommendations and referrals, perceptions of efficacy and risk, and self-rated knowledge regarding complementary medicine: a survey of Australian psychologists

BACKGROUND

Many people with mental health problems use a range of complementary medicine (CM), including over the counter products, practices, and utilise the services of CM practitioners. Psychologists are likely to consult with clients using CM, in some form, as part of their broader mental health care. The aim of this research was to determine the number of types of CM products, practices, and practitioners are recommended and/or referred by Australian psychologists as part of their clinical practice, as well as explore the relationship between psychologists' perspectives on the risk and relevance of engaging with CM in psychology.

METHODS

Survey data was collected from psychologists in clinical practice who self-selected to participate in the study via an online 79-item questionnaire exploring core aspects of CM engagement in psychology clinical practice.

RESULTS

Amongst the 201 psychologists, 5% reported not recommending any type of CM, with 63% recommending four or more types of CM. Further, 25% had not referred to a CM practitioner, while 33% had referred to four or more types of CM practitioner. Psychologists are recommending and referring to CM even when they perceive their knowledge of CM to be poor, and that engaging with CM was a risk.

CONCLUSION

This study provides insights into psychologist perceptions of CM within psychology practice and how these perceptions are associated with rates of recommending and referring to CM as part of their clinical practice. These findings may inform the development of CM relevant education and guidelines for psychologists.

The relationship between psychology practice and complementary medicine in Australia: Psychologists' demographics and practice characteristics regarding type of engagement across a range of complementary medicine modalities

INTRODUCTION

Many people with mental health problems utilise a range of complementary medicine (CM) practitioners, products, and practices. Psychologists are likely to consult with clients who are seeking and using CM, in some form, as part of their wider mental health treatment. The aim of this research is to determine how much, and in what ways, Australian psychologists recommend CM products and/or practices, and/or initiate referrals to CM practitioners as part of their clinical practice and to explore if these behaviours have any association with the characteristics of the psychologist or their wider practice.

METHODS

Survey data was collected from psychologists in clinical practice who self-selected to participate between February and April 2021. Participation in the study was via an online 79-item questionnaire exploring core aspects of CM engagement in psychology clinical practice.

RESULTS

Amongst the 202 psychologists who completed the survey, mind/body approaches (90.5%) were the most recommended CM and cultural/spiritual approaches the least recommended CM (7.5%). Participants also reported referring to CM practitioners with naturopaths the most common focus of their referrals (57.9%) and cultural and spiritual practitioners the least common focus of their referrals (6.69%). Our analysis shows the demographic and practice characteristics of a psychologist are generally not predictors of a psychologist's engagement with CM in their clinical practice.

CONCLUSIONS

Substantial numbers of psychologists recommend CM products and practices and/or refer clients to CM practitioners. Alongside subjecting CM interventions for mental health to an evidence-base assessment, the broader discipline of psychology needs to also consider psychologist engagement with CM in clinical practice in order to help ensure cultural-sensitivity, client safety and client choice.

Alternative medicine therapies in neurological disorders: Prevalence, reasons and associated factors. A systematic review

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review aimed to identify the prevalence of CAM use in patients with neurological disorders, and also to know most frequent types of CAM used.

METHODS

Five databases: PubMed, Science Direct, EBSCO, Latindex and Scielo (in English and Spanish) were searched from January 2010 to May 2021. Only original cross-sectional, retrospective and cohort studies were included, whose primary objective was to describe the frequency of CAM use in neurological disorders and/or the related factors to its use in adults. Based on the data, a descriptive analysis was performed, covering the characteristics of studies, measuring methods, prevalence, types and related factors. To control the risk of bias, a quality assessment of each study was performed using STROBE checklist.

RESULTS

For the final analysis, 40 studies were included. Most common pathologies observed in the studies were multiple sclerosis, headache, stroke, Parkinson and epilepsy. The STROBE score of studies ranged from 13 to 22 points, with an average of 18.2. Prevalence of CAM use was highly variable from one study to another (16% in stroke patients, to 100% in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or spinal cord injury patients). Biological therapies (dietary supplements and herbal medicine) were the most commonly CAM types used. The associated factors identified were female sex, an age between 40 and 50 years, and higher socioeconomic level. Not all studies investigated about the results of CAMs but these ranged from 35% to more than 80% of reporting positive effects.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of CAM use in neurological diseases is highly variable (16%-100%); the most used type of CAM was biological therapies and the associated factors were female sex, age between 40 and 50 years old and high socioeconomic level.