Convergence of CAM and Mainstream Healthcare

Some of the common threads that run through CAM health care systems also are part of mainstream, or conventional, health care. For example, conventional medicine has a long tradition of being concerned with preventing disease as evidenced by the development of programs for immunizations, healthier mothers and babies, family planning, safer and healthier foods, fluoridation of drinking water, control of infectious diseases, reducing deaths from heart disease and stroke, decreasing the use of tobacco products, and promoting motor vehicle safety and safer workplaces.

Mainstream or conventional health care also has long-recognized that good nutrition and exercise are important components of a healthy lifestyle. There also is a growing recognition within conventional health care that bio-psychosocial and spiritual factors may play an important role in promoting health and preventing illness.

The difference between conventional and CAM health care systems in many of these areas, however, is one of emphasis. In part, because of the many technological advances that have occurred in conventional health care over the years (see Recent History of CAM section, below), pharmacological, surgical, and other technological approaches have come to dominate conventional health care. While acknowledged, prevention and wellness promotion have been underemphasized. For example, according to a recent report by the Nutrition Education Consortium, the teaching of nutrition in medical schools and residency programs remains "woefully inadequate," and a survey by Cooksey et al. found that most medical schools do not have faculty trained specifically in nutrition. As a result of this lack of training in nutrition in medical education, many practicing physicians are not adequately prepared to provide nutrition counseling to their patients. However, registered dieticians and clinical nutritionists are employed by hospitals and clinics. These are the specialists who are trained in this area and are well established in the conventional health care system.

Because many CAM approaches often focus on prevention rather than cure, they have come to be identified with wellness and self-care. This may be a reflection of history, as effective treatments for many of the infections and severe injuries that occurred were lacking. Traditional systems were better able to strengthen the individual and attempt to prevent disease than to treat many of the illnesses that killed millions even one hundred years ago. This is not to imply that CAM systems of health care are more effective than conventional health care in promoting health and preventing illness, as many have not been scientifically shown to prevent disease or promote health.

The perception that conventional health care emphasizes high technology approaches to treating patients, while CAM health care emphasizes low technology approaches to promoting health and preventing disease, has led some to suggest that conventional and CAM health care may eventually converge to form a new health care system that integrates the best of each. However, there are not only scientific, but also educational, regulatory, and political obstacles to integration of the two systems.

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		Convergence of CAM and Mainstream Healthcare Some of the common threads that run through CAM health care systems also are part of mainstream, or conventional, health care. For example, conventional medicine has a long tradition of being concerned with preventing disease as evidenced by the development of programs for immunizations, healthier mothers and babies, family planning, safer and healthier foods, fluoridation of drinking water, control of infectious diseases, reducing deaths from heart disease and stroke, decreasing the use of tobacco products, and promoting motor vehicle safety and safer workplaces. Mainstream or conventional health care also has long-recognized that good nutrition and exercise are important components of a healthy lifestyle. There also is a growing recognition within conventional health care that bio-psychosocial and spiritual factors may play an important role in promoting health and preventing illness. The difference between conventional and CAM health care systems in many of these areas, however, is one of emphasis. In part, because of the many technological advances that have occurred in conventional health care over the years (see Recent History of CAM section, below), pharmacological, surgical, and other technological approaches have come to dominate conventional health care. While acknowledged, prevention and wellness promotion have been underemphasized. For example, according to a recent report by the Nutrition Education Consortium, the teaching of nutrition in medical schools and residency programs remains "woefully inadequate," and a survey by Cooksey et al. found that most medical schools do not have faculty trained specifically in nutrition. As a result of this lack of training in nutrition in medical education, many practicing physicians are not adequately prepared to provide nutrition counseling to their patients. However, registered dieticians and clinical nutritionists are employed by hospitals and clinics. These are the specialists who are trained in this area and are well established in the conventional health care system. Because many CAM approaches often focus on prevention rather than cure, they have come to be identified with wellness and self-care. This may be a reflection of history, as effective treatments for many of the infections and severe injuries that occurred were lacking. Traditional systems were better able to strengthen the individual and attempt to prevent disease than to treat many of the illnesses that killed millions even one hundred years ago. This is not to imply that CAM systems of health care are more effective than conventional health care in promoting health and preventing illness, as many have not been scientifically shown to prevent disease or promote health. The perception that conventional health care emphasizes high technology approaches to treating patients, while CAM health care emphasizes low technology approaches to promoting health and preventing disease, has led some to suggest that conventional and CAM health care may eventually converge to form a new health care system that integrates the best of each. However, there are not only scientific, but also educational, regulatory, and political obstacles to integration of the two systems. Top of Page