Americans spent $33.9 billion out-of-pocket on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) over the previous 12 months, according to a recently released government survey. Complementary and alternative medicine practices, and products such as herbal supplements, meditation, chiropractic, and acupuncture, account for approximately 1.5% of total healthcare expenditures ($2.2 trillion) and 11.2% of total out-of-pocket expenditures on healthcare in the United States.
CAM Practitioner Visits
Americans spent $33.9 billion out-of-pocket on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) over a 12-month period, according to a recently released government survey.
| | |
 | Number of persons 18 years or older who saw a CAM practitioner during a 12-month period ⁎ | |
|---|
| Alternative medical systems | | |
|  Acupuncture | 3,141,000 | |
| Ayurveda | 214,000 | |
| Homeopathy | 862,000 | |
| Naturopathy | 729,000 | |
| Traditional healers | 812,000 | |
| Biologically based therapies | | |
| Chelation therapy | 111,000 | |
| Natural products | 1,488,000 | |
| Diet-based therapies | 270,000 | |
| Manipulative and body-based therapies | | |
| Chiropractic or osteopathic | 18,740,000 | |
| Massage | 18,068,000 | |
| Movement therapies | 3,146,000 | |
| Mind-body therapies | | |
| Biofeedback | 362,000 | |
| Relaxation techniques | 3,131,000 | |
| Hypnosis | 561,000 | |
| Energy-based therapies | | |
| Energy healing | 1,216,000 | |
| | |
| ⁎ 2007 National Health Interview Survey |
The 2007 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) revealed that approximately 38% of adults use some form of CAM for health and wellness or to treat a variety of diseases and conditions. The CAM component of the NHIS was developed by the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the National Center for Health Statistics. The data provide estimates of the cost of CAM use, the frequency of visits made to CAM practitioners, and frequency of purchases of self-care CAM therapies.
“With so many Americans using and spending money on CAM therapies, it is extremely important to know whether the products and practices they use are safe and effective,” said Josephine P. Briggs, MD, director of NCCAM. “This underscores the importance of conducting rigorous research and providing evidence-based information on CAM so that healthcare providers and the public can make well-informed decisions.”
Of the $33.9 billion spent on CAM out-of-pocket, an estimated $22.0 billion was spent on self- care costs—CAM products, classes, and materials—with the majority going to the purchase of nonvitamin, nonmineral, natural products ($14.8 billion) such as fish oil, glucosamine, and echinacea. Adults in the United States also spent approximately $11.9 billion on an estimated 354.2 million visits to CAM practitioners such as acupuncturists, chiropractors, and massage therapists.
The $14.8 billion spent on nonvitamin, nonmineral, natural products is equivalent to approximately one third of total out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs, and the $11.9 billion spent on CAM practitioner visits is equivalent to approximately one quarter of total out-of-pocket spending on physician visits.
“These data indicate that the US public makes millions of visits to CAM providers each year and spends billions of dollars for these services, as well as for self-care forms of CAM,” said Richard L. Nahin, PhD, MPH, acting director of the Division of Extramural Research, NCCAM, and lead author of the cost of complementary and alternative medicine analysis. “While these expenditures represent just a small fraction of total healthcare spending in the United States, they constitute a substantial part of out-of-pocket healthcare costs.”
In 2007, NHIS interviews were completed in 29,266 households, which yielded 75,764 persons in 29,915 families and a household response rate of 87.1%. This report is based on data from 23,393 completed interviews with sample adults aged 18 years and over.
Inclusion and development of the 2007 NHIS supplement was supported, in part, by seven National Institutes of Health components: NCCAM; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; National Institute of Mental Health; the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Office of Dietary Supplements; and Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research.
For additional information, contact the NCCAM Clearinghouse toll free at 1-888-644-6226, or visit the NCCAM Web site at http://nccam.nih.gov.
Levin to Serve as Director of the Program on Religion and Population Health at Baylor
Jeff Levin, MPH, PhD, was recently named to a distinguished chair at Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR), where he will serve as university professor of epidemiology and population health, and director of its program on religion and population health. Levin will also serve as professor of medical humanities at Baylor.
In his new position, Levin will collaborate with ISR scholars on a number of different research initiatives and will direct the efforts of ISR in global population health research, with a special emphasis on religion and health research.
An epidemiologist by training, as well as a religious scholar and gerontologist, Levin's academic research and writing—beginning in the 1980s—pioneered the study of religion, spirituality, and health. He holds an AB in religion and in sociology from Duke University, an MPH from the University of North Carolina School of Public Health, and a PhD in preventive medicine and community health from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.
Levin has published over 150 scholarly manuscripts, mostly on the instrumental functions of religion for physical and mental health, general well-being and aging, and is known for his interdisciplinary approach to this subject, as evidenced by articles published in sociology, psychology, anthropology, biology, gerontology, religious studies, pastoral care, psychiatry, family practice, health services, public health, and integrative medicine journals. He has written or edited seven books, including God, Faith, and Health and the forthcoming Divine Love: Perspectives from the World's Religious Traditions.
“Joining Baylor is a tremendous opportunity and a tremendous challenge,” Levin said. “ISR is the preeminent academic center in the world for social and policy research on religion, and I'm thrilled to establish a public health presence at the Institute.”
“It's not often that one meets an individual who has founded an entirely new field of knowledge that has profoundly enriched both science and society,” said Larry Dossey, MD, Executive Editor for EXPLORE and author of 11 books examining the role of spirituality and consciousness in healing, including the New York Times bestseller, Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine. “Dr Jeff Levin is such a person, having established, almost single-handedly, the field now called the epidemiology of religion. By affiliating with the Institute for Studies of Religion, Jeff—and the institute—will be poised to make even greater contributions to this important field. At a time when our society, our world, is desperate for meaning and direction, nothing could be more important.”
NIH and Wikimedia Foundation Collaborate to Improve Online Health Information
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization that operates the Wikipedia online encyclopedia, have partnered to make online health and science information more accessible and reliable. This collaboration is the first of its kind for both organizations.
“NIH works to ensure that the information it provides on science and health is of the highest quality and reaches the widest audience,” said John Burklow, NIH associate director for communications and public liaison. “We look forward to this opportunity to collaborate with the Wikimedia Foundation and participate in a resource that is used by millions of people around the world.”
In July 2009, Wikimedia staff and volunteers hosted their first ever Wikipedia Academy at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. Participants learned about the philosophy and mechanics of Wikipedia and began a long-term dialogue aimed at improving public knowledge about health, science, and medicine. The international foundation has never before worked with a federal agency or a health sciences institution.
“Wikipedia Academies are public outreach events, usually lasting one or two days, aimed at engaging academics and other subject-matter experts who are not familiar with wiki culture or online communities,” said Frank Schulenburg, head of public outreach for the Wikimedia Foundation. “In presentations and workshops, experienced Wikipedia authors teach the participants how to contribute to Wikipedia and orient the audience to Wikipedia's structures and community policies.”
“We're incredibly excited about our first official Wikipedia Academy in the United States,” said Sue Gardner, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation. “With the broad range of experts from the National Institutes of Health, we see a great opportunity for increasing the quality of all health-related information on Wikipedia, benefiting users of Wikipedia from all over the world.” Wikipedia contains nearly 13.5 million articles written in over 250 languages. The site manages, on average, more than 14 million page views per hour.
To satisfy the public's growing need for reliable health information, NIH and the Wikimedia Foundation want to increase the availability of accurate medical and health information available to the public. At the same time, they hope to establish strategies to interlace the distinct cultures of Wikipedia and the research community.
For more information about Wikipedia, visit http://www.wikipedia.org. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.
New Foundation Launched
Psychologist Ira Moscowitz, PhD, has recently created the Foundation for the Scientific Study of Spiritual and Complementary Healing in Tampa, Florida. The Foundation intends to fund research in the fields of spiritual and complementary healing. The Foundation can be contacted at FSSSCH, c/o Ira Moscowitz, PhD, 2401 Bayshore Blvd #1102, Tampa, FL 33639-7385. Telephone: 813-251-0032. Email: moscowitz@iname.com or moscowitz@verizon.net.
Polli to Lead Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine
The Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine (Consortium), headquartered at the University of Minnesota, has announced the appointment of Janet Polli as executive director. Polli was selected from a nationwide search and brings more than 10 years of experience working for nonprofits, including significant university systems, focusing on financial management and business development. She will report to the chair and vice-chair of the Consortium, both two-year positions elected through member universities.
The Consortium works to transform medicine and healthcare through rigorous scientific studies, new models of clinical care, and innovative educational programs that integrate biomedicine, the complexity of human beings, the intrinsic nature of healing, and the rich diversity of therapeutic systems.
“With the growth of the Consortium to 44 academic institutions, it was time for the creation of an executive director position to support and guide the various initiatives now underway as well as the continued development of the Consortium into the future,” said Vice Chair Adam Perlman, MD, MPH. “Janet brings a wealth of experience leading non-profit growth and will enable the Consortium to increase its impact while maintaining financial sustainability. With healthcare reform on the horizon, the role of the Consortium in promoting the principles of integrative medicine has never been more pertinent and critical.”
Most recently, Polli was the manager of business development for the Research Foundation of the City University of New York. Prior to that, she served as the director of Mentoring USA and also was a program director for Pathways for Youth in the Bronx, New York. She has relocated to Minneapolis for the Consortium position and began her new role on August 3, 2009.
For more information on the Consortium or to inquire about membership, please visit http://www.imconsortium.org.
Glenda Christiaens, PhD, RN, Chosen as AHNA President-Elect
The American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) recently announced the election of Glenda Christiaens, PhD, RN, as president-elect. Chosen by AHNA members, the president-elect serves two years as president-elect, and then becomes AHNA's president for an additional two years.
Christiaens, who is currently an associate teaching professor of nursing at Brigham Young University, says, “AHNA is in a period of growth and moving forward as the leader in holistic nursing education, practice, research and aesthetics.” Her goal is to transform the nursing profession “by opening a space for satisfaction and healing for individuals, families, communities and nurses alike … to be the national and international leader in holistic nursing.”
Christiaens joins the other members of the Leadership Council: President Mary Enzman Hines, RN, PhD; Executive Director Jeanne Crawford, MA, MPH; Mary Anne Hanley, RN, PhD; Mary Koithan, PhD, RN-C; Joyce Murphy, RN, MSN; Cindy Bultena, RN, MS; Rorry Zahourek, APRN, PhD; Sonja Simpson, RN, MSN; and Vicki Slater, RN, PhD.
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