The Obama administration should look closely into how to incorporate complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) into healthcare reform efforts, according to an editorial in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.
A new model for healthcare should include evidence-based methods of prevention, chiropractic and CAM, writes Daniel Redwood, associate professor at Cleveland Chiropractic College.
This approach could include training for health practitioners in topics such as whole foods, exercise and stress management, he says.
“There is no lack of scientific evidence for these approaches; what is lacking is a deep appreciation of their importance and the will to teach these to the patients who so desperately need them,” he explains.
Redwood criticizes the governmentÂ’s “longstanding emphasis on single intervention therapeutics,” which he says has dominated health research budgets.
Last month, Deepak Chopra wrote an editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle in which he called on President Obama to recognize that CAM has the potential to boost long-term wellness.
He also argued that since CAM focuses on preventive care, it could save the government a significant amount of money in the long term.