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Surveys
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• The Liverpool Centre for Health The Liverpool Centre for Health was set up by the Liverpool FHSA as a service to local GPs. Although there were some initial difficulties e.g. doctors failed to discuss cases with therapists or send sufficient referral data, doctors sent their failed and chronic cases rather than easily treatable cases, and the therapists themselves felt constrained, being unable to go beyond their therapy into natural systems of health care and information about an improved, healthier lifestyle. That said, after only three months, the GP’s acknowledged that the majority of the patients could have reduced drug regimes, particularly analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) and antidepressants. Furthermore, more than half of the patients referred to the centre would otherwise have been referred to an hospital out-patient unit and so there were substantial cost savings. • Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust Complementary Health Centre The Lewisham project was very successful partly due to the fact that during the four years prior to the establishment of the Complementary Health Centre, the hospital staff were involved in regular workshops and seminars and so were more familiar with the therapies and therapists. There was consequently considerable dialogue between the doctors and therapists and this contributed towards the success of the Centre. There is a wealth of evidence to support the integration of complementary health modalities into the NHS setting, particularly the educational and interactive therapies which can be undertaken on a group basis such as Nutritional Therapy (education), Yoga, Relaxation, Tai Chi, Meditation, Healing, etc as these can be incorporated at very low cost. The future of complementary therapies in the NHS seems hopeful; virtually every survey undertaken in recent years in the UK and North America confirm that there is indeed a growing demand by the public and health professionals for complementary therapies to be incorporated in the primary health care system. As more and more therapists approach GP fundholding practices and more and more patients request their services, will no doubt see greater availability of complementary therapies in the future. Editor’s note: When approaching your GP for referral to a complementary therapy, it is advisable to show him/her supportive research relating to the desired therapy/medicine. We would like to confirm that the copyright restriction on the Internet Health Library is waived and does not apply in these circumstances, and any information contained in the Internet Health Library may therefore be printed and presented to GP fundholdings, DSAs or FHSAs to support requests for treatment or greater use of any complementary therapies and medicines. Adam Jackson 1998 1 in 5 using complementary therapies A recent survey carried out for radio 5 Live revealed that 1 in 5 of the respondents had used complementary therapies in the last year. Most popular therapies were:
Approximately 80% of those questioned thought that complementary therapies would increase in popularity Source: Integrated Health Oct 1999: issue 2 Complementary therapies & patients attending musculoskeletal clinics Patients with musculoskeletal disorders commonly seek treatment outside orthodox medicine (complementary therapy). In patients attending hospital clinics, researchers investigated the prevalence of such behaviour and the reasons for it. Patients attending rheumatology and orthopaedic clinics who agreed to participate were interviewed on the same day by means of a structured questionnaire in three sections: the first section about demographic characteristics; the second about the nature and duration of the complaint, the length of any treatment and whether the patient was satisfied with conventional treatment; and the third about the use of complementary medicine, the types of therapy that had been considered and the reasoning behind these decisions. The data were examined by univariate and bivariate analysis as well as logistic regression multivariate analysis. 166 patients were interviewed (99% response rate) and the predominant diagnosis was rheumatoid arthritis (22.3%). 109 patients (63%) were satisfied with conventional medical treatment; 63 (38%) had considered the use of complementary therapies, and 47 (28%) had tried such a therapy. 26 of the 47 who had used complementary therapy said they had gained some benefit. Acupuncture, homoeopathy, osteopathy and herbal medicine were the most popular types of treatment to be considered. Patients of female gender and patients who had expressed dissatisfaction with current therapies were most likely to have considered complementary medicine. These results indicate substantial use of complementary therapy in patients attending musculoskeletal disease clinics. The reasons for dissatisfaction with orthodox treatment deserve further investigation, as does the effectiveness of complementary treatments, which must be demonstrated before they are integrated with orthodox medical practice. Chandola A, Young Y, McAlister J, Axford JS. Academic Unit for Musculoskeletal Disease, St George's Hospital Medical School, London, UK. J R Soc Med 1999 Jan;92(1):13-6
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