Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Integrating Complementary and Alternative Medicine with Primary Health Care


Publishing date
01 Feb 2013
Status
Published
Submission deadline
14 Sep 2012

1Gulf College of Pharmacy, Gulf Medical University, Ajman, UAE

2R&D Center, The Himalaya Drug Company, Makali, Tumkur Road, Bangalore, India

3Pharmacognosy and Ethnopharmacology Division, National Botanical Research Institute, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Rana Pratap Marg, P.O. Box 436, Lucknow 226001, India


Integrating Complementary and Alternative Medicine with Primary Health Care

Description

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) by the public has been gaining increasing popularity in recent times. While in W Europe and Australia reports suggest that about 20–70% of people regularly use CAM, in the USA (1992), it was estimated that at least one-third of Americans utilized CAM, and in fact the number of annual visits to providers of alternative medicine exceeded that to primary care physicians. CAM is mostly sought for chronic ailments, when conventional system of medicine offers no cure. The WHO report (2002) states that at least 70% of the world population still believes in alternative medicine, like homeopathy, Ayurveda, Unani, Amchi, traditional Chinese medicine, aromatherapy, herbal medicine in general, dietary supplements, and so forth. The continuing demand for CAM therapies will definitely have its impact on health care delivery in the future. Primary health care is defined as a set of universally accessible holistic health and social services that promote health, prevent disease, and provide diagnostic, curative, rehabilitative, supportive, and palliative services. With a holistic emphasis, CAM should be able to complement the goals of PHC per se as its concepts are consistent with those recommended. Integration may serve to enhance health care equity wherein all individuals may have access to a range and combination of services that can contribute to reduced sickness and an increased health-related quality of life.

We invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that will stimulate efforts to understand the importance of CAM and PHC in today's context and their possible integration for the betterment of patient therapy and cure. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Integration and use of CAM in PHC systems
  • Challenges and goals of CAM in PHC: CAM as a possible solution provider (expert thoughts and preliminary/anecdotal examples)
  • Acceptance of CAM in conventional modern medicine
  • Indications where CAM may have a major role, namely, chronic ailments
  • Epidemiological and pharmacoeconomic concerns of CAM
  • CAM interventions in clinical trials
  • CAM education in medical and allied health care curricula: prospects and implications
  • Policies/medicolegal issues of integrating CAM with PHC

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable:


Articles

  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2013
  • - Article ID 948308
  • - Editorial

Integrating Complementary and Alternative Medicine with Primary Health Care

Annie Shirwaikar | Raghavan Govindarajan | Ajay Kumar Singh Rawat
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2013
  • - Article ID 426360
  • - Research Article

Integrating Traditional Chinese Medicine Services in Community Health Centers: Insights into Utilization Patterns in the Pearl River Region of China

Vincent C. H. Chung | Polly H. X. Ma | ... | Sian M. Griffiths
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2013
  • - Article ID 183643
  • - Research Article

Medical Practices and Attitudes of Dual-Licensed Medical Doctors in Korea

Jiseon Ryu | Byunghee Choi | ... | Youngju Yun
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2013
  • - Article ID 472973
  • - Research Article

Quality Evaluation of Ayurvedic Crude Drug Daruharidra, Its Allied Species, and Commercial Samples from Herbal Drug Markets of India

Sharad Srivastava | A. K. S. Rawat
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2013
  • - Article ID 369180
  • - Research Article

[Retracted] The Effect of Elephantopus scaber L. on Liver Regeneration after Partial Hepatectomy

Chin-Chuan Tsai | Jia-Ping Wu | ... | Chih-Yang Huang
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 294638
  • - Research Article

Herbal Medicine in Primary Healthcare in Germany: The Patient's Perspective

Stefanie Joos | Katharina Glassen | Berthold Musselmann
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 138954
  • - Research Article

Analgesic and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of the Ethanolic Extract of Artemisia morrisonensis Hayata in Mice

Shen-Chieh Chou | Yung-Jia Chiu | ... | Wen-Huang Peng
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 265486
  • - Research Article

Effects of Tai Chi versus Proprioception Exercise Program on Neuromuscular Function of the Ankle in Elderly People: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Jing Liu | Xue-Qiang Wang | ... | Jiu-Gen Zhong
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 506978
  • - Review Article

The Relationship between Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use and Breast Cancer Early Detection: A Critical Review

Laura C. Dale | Carolyn C. Gotay
  • Special Issue
  • - Volume 2012
  • - Article ID 240314
  • - Research Article

Effects of Somatothermal Far-Infrared Ray on Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Pilot Study

Yu-Min Ke | Ming-Chiu Ou | ... | Wen-An Chang
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
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Acceptance rate7%
Submission to final decision145 days
Acceptance to publication29 days
CiteScore3.500
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