Complementary or Alternative Medicine known as CAM are the practices, products, and diverse medical and health care that are used to care for patients that are not considered conventional medicine. It is used to improve the health of a person mentally, physically or for addiction. CAM is use of resources such as biofeedback, guided imagery, hypnotherapy, meditation, relaxation techniques as well as special diets or herbal remedies to assist with the holistic healing process. Popularity with the use of CAM is the belief that more harm than good comes from conventional medicine such as immunizations, chemotherapy or radiation(“National institutes of health,” n.d.).

CAM is based on healing of the patient as a whole; mind, body and spirit. It is individualized for the patient. It has been thought that only the patients that were poorly educated, naïve, gullible and from low socioeconomic status where the people to use CAM. It has been shown that it is however women, Caucasians, highly educated people of affluent status between the ages 35-49 use CAM alone or in combination with convential medicine. The patients that are chronically ill or at the end-stage of their illness will use some form of CAM to maintain their general health rather than for curative reasons(Falvo, 2011).

References

Falvo, D. R. (2011). 11,14&15. In Effective patient education a guide to increased adherence(4th ed. (pp. 275-291,365-409). Retrieved from https://viewer.gcu.edu/RQBKXW

National institutes of health. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29,2021, from https://www.nih.gov