Future Healthcare
Trends and the Growth of Complementary and Alternative Therapies
Research confirms the growing popularity
and use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the U.S. today. But how will future healthcare trends affect the
growth of CAM therapies?
If the past is any indication, the
use of CAM therapies is likely to continue to grow in public acceptance as the U.S. healthcare system evolves. What began
as a passing fad in the 1960s has today crossed decades, genders, and ethnicities.1 Timing has had a significant
impact on the evolution and social acceptance of particular CAM therapies. In the 1960s, the self-help generation flocked
to commercial diet programs and megavitamin therapy. The 1970s ushered in an era of biofeedback, energy healing, and herbal
medicine, while in the 1980s and 1990s, massage, naturopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, aromatherapy, and yoga joined the
growing list of CAM therapies.1
Today, national surveys estimate that
in a given year, 40% of all Americans incorporate some type of CAM therapy into their healthcare routine.2 Government
health agencies and the conventional medical community now recognize the scientific validity of CAM therapies. And the popularity
of CAM continues to grow. In fact, in 1977, surveys showed that more one third of the American population was currently using
some form of CAM therapy. In 2001, subsequent analyses of lifetime use demonstrated that 67% of those originally surveyed
in 1977 reported continual use of at least one CAM therapy.3
While it is often difficult to project
long-term trends, past utilization of CAM therapies forecast a promising future. Today, CAM has proven to be neither a short-lived
social phenomenon nor a radical replacement of conventional medicine.3 More and more, mainstream medical journals,
academic medical centers, and leading scientists are working to provide reliable clinical information supporting CAM therapies,
and this, along with growing public demand, will ultimately determine the future of CAM.
References
