A patient should feel like they have control over their disease. Not having control can lead to insecurity and can negatively impact a patient’s image. This is a reason Complementary and Alternative Medicine should not just be pushed aside. The feeling of empowerment and control over a disease is what patients should have in their treatment. A patient should not feel like their health problems rule them. After all medical treatment is supposed to make people feel better as a whole.
Although Complementary and Alternative Medicine has risen over the past few years and has become more popular and used there are still some that oppose it. John MacArtney and Ayo Wahlberg do that through social science. Wahlberg and MacArtney talk about four subjects
According to Sandra Augustyn Lawton in Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Teens, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) can be defined as “a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine” (Lawton, 2007, p.3). Although complementary and alternative medicines are often interpreted as the same thing, complementary methods are used in coordination with conventional methods and alternative methods are used in place of conventional methods of medicine (Lawton, 2007, p.3). Another method used is integrative medicine, which uses conventional medicine and CAM together because there is proven scientific evidence to support that the treatment plan is safe and effective (Lawton, 2007, p.3). Complementary and alternative medicines are used throughout the world in many different countries, some more specifically than others.
Nowadays, complementary alternative medicine is very popular in the United States. It is widely used by adults and children. National health statistic reports done in 2007 shows that 38.3% of adults and 11.8% of children use some form of alternative medicine (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2016). But why is this happening? Why is it becoming so popular? Why are more people turning to it? Many times, this is because conventional medicine has not work and they want to try an alternative. That is the case of the author of this paper.
There are many different uses of alternative medicine and that can be used in a variety of situations. Some people may be skeptical of alternative medicine since they are not aware of the facts and statistics. By homeopathy becoming more popular people will not be as skeptical. “Despite the successes of many alternative therapies, the phrase "alternative medicine" has not acquired a completely respectable air. To many, especially doctors trained in conventional medicine, "alternative therapies" seem unscientific and dangerous” (Badertscher). As the author shows that although alternative medicine may seem skeptical to people, there are many reasons to prove that alternative medicine is an overall better solution. Badertscher also explains the many benefits to his view of alternative medicine of seeking to work with the body 's own natural healing processes” (Badertscher). For example, a person may suffer from chronic back pain may decide to go to a chiropractor instead of using medication such as oxycodone. In this Badertscher shows the benefit that using the body’s natural healing does and that it puts the person in control of their
Complementary and alternative treatments are identified as a group of medical and healing systems different from the traditional ones. This type of approach centers on individualized treatment for the patient, treats the body as a whole, and promotes self healing and search for the spiritual nature of each individual. One of the crucial points that conventional and alternative medicine have in common is the awareness on good nutrition and the promotion of preventive care (White House Commission, 2014).
Easthope, G., 2005. Alternative Medicines. In: Germov, ed. An Introduction to Health Sociology. Melbourne :Oxford University Press, pp. 332-348.
Autonomy is another value that I cherish in patient care. Autonomy is descried as giving control and right to the individual to make choices (Cherry & Jacob, 2013). This is so important because nobody wants to lose their ability to make choices and make decisions. Autonomy is letting the patients make their decisions concerning their diagnosis and how health care is provided for them. To me giving the patient the ability to exercising autonomy is empowerment. For instance, I like to give my patients the choice to make decisions from the very little things such as if they would like to shave by themselves or would have someone shave for them, to the not so little choices as to making major decisions about diagnosis and treatment
People make bad choices in life every day, some may be recovered from whereas others have fatal consequences. A reporter named Jon Krakauer wrote a biography called Into The Wild which is about a young man named Chris McCandless who makes a fatal decision which lead to his demise in Alaska. Aron Ralton's book called Between a Rock and a Hard Place is about his near death experience from making a bad choice. His perseverance and problem solving skills become his salvation in the hot and dry terrain of Utah. Chris and Aron were both eager for adventure and both had a love for nature and the outdoors. Chris died because he lacked Aron's prior knowledge of survival tactics, making Chris ill prepared for his journey.
Complementary therapies are alternatives to conventional medicine, which advance conventional health care. These therapies have been around for a while but are becoming more popular in nursing and in health care (O`Regan et al., 2010, p. 35). It is shown that...
We must be able to openly listen to our patients needs and communicate effectively in order to empower our patients. They need to know that we are listening, that we understand, and that we are going to provide them with the knowledge and information needed to make their own choices. We must first be empowered in order to help empower them. Constraints Empowering our patients can be very difficult when we are faced with institutional and professional constraints.... ...
Joos S.,(2008). The role of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in Germany - a focus group study of GPs. BMC Health Services Research,8,127–140.Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2442431/
As a first way to heal, when people use alternative medicine, they take fewer drugs and chemicals in to their bodies and there are fewer side effects for them and if people protect themselves before they sicken, they do not need any pills. This means that, when people caught in any kind of disease if they use herbal therapies to heal their illnesses, they do not harm their organs or systems. They...
In recent years, the exposure of pill-peddling pharmaceutical companies and the dangers- such as the various toxins and the risk of dependence- that their manufactured drugs pose on the body has turned more and more people of the western world back to basics for their health care. Richard L. Nahin from the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine states that according to the institute’s latest research, "It's clear that millions of Americans every year are turning to complementary and alternative medicine."
About 40% of Americans use some type of method outside the mainstream of conventional medicine. When hearing medicines that are being described outside the mainstream, you hear terms like complementary, alternative, or integrated medicine (CAM). Complementary medicine is usually referred to as medicine being combined with conventional medicine. Alternative medicine is usually ref...
http://www.susantannermd.com/articles/benefits-of-natural-medicine.html#.VivAwH6rS00 In a perfect world, alternative medicine and conventional medicine would find ways to co-exist. Helping people balance the benefits of using both. If the world we live in could only find the proper remedy in using both approaches to overall healing, we would have longer life spans. However, today’s society does not allow these medical treatments to co-exist and Americans tend to pick one form of treatment over the other. WORKS CITED Harter, Leona.
Over the centuries, ancients made use of several treatment methods. Two of them are modern medicine and traditional medicine. Alternative medicine is older than modern one. That effective therapy has used for many centuries on the patience when modern medicine has not occurred in the world. Because it has improved in China, it can be called Traditional Chinese Medicine. In contrast, modern medicine has been in used since 1900’s. In this system, drugs’ testes are done in safety laboratories with care and nicety, and their side effects are located before they are given to the patient. However, sometimes the side effects are not blocked so, people have to take another pill to get better. It makes people to take more chemicals into their bodies. Further, modern medicine has splendid efficacy on the fatal diseases. Even, alternative medicine which people’s ancestors utilized stayed in the background when modern medicine has just found, it works at the present time efficaciously. ****** Therefore, using alternative medicine is more helpful to get better than modern medicine because there are fewer drugs, side effects; there is placebo effect and holistic therapy.