Complementary and Alternative Medicine

1 Complementary and Alternative Medicine 1. CAM The terms complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) describe medical practices and products not included in standard medical care. Complementary medicine comprises traditional and non-traditional interventions. Alternative medicine, on the other hand, comprises non-traditional strategies alone. Some commonly used CAM treatments include herbal medicines, homeopathy, osteopathy, acupuncture, and chiropractic (Cohen, 2021).

2. Patient groups that commonly use CAM CAM is useful in people with chronic conditions such as cancer. This approach to treatment helps alleviate the side effects such as pain, fatigue, and nausea associated with mainstream treatment intervention. Importantly, CAM helps comfort the patient and prevents unnecessary fear, anxiety, and stress. Various CAM interventions require the patient to participate in their care actively.

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3. Misconceptions about CAM Although CAM heals the body and treats the cause of illness and pain, people have some misconceptions about these treatments. Some people believe that holistic medicine is not standard medical care (Cohen, 2021). However, health professionals and researchers study alternative therapies to ascertain their applicability to patient care. Beneficial alternative treatments are then integrated into mainstream medical activities. Another misconception concerning CAM treatments is that they do not work (Cohen, 2021). Research findings, however, indicate that various interventions, including acupuncture, can effectively treat certain medical conditions.

4. Strategies for integrating CAM into patient education Clinicians need to explain complementary and alternative therapies to patients to erase doubts about their safety and effectiveness. Knowledge of these interventions helps patients make informed choices. The clinician should create a supportive and non-judgmental atmosphere to ensure issues regarding CAM are effectively integrated into the treatment plan (Agarwal, 2018). Notably, the clinician should allow patients to disclose their experiences with CAM. 5. Safe use of CAM Most CAM users consider these treatments to be inherently safe. However, patients' surge in simultaneous use of pharmaceutical agents and CAM products augment the possibility of adverse eventualities (Bellanger, Seeger, & Smith, 2017). CAM products have minimal health risks. However, the low risk does not imply they are 100% safe. The safety of many CAM products is therefore uncertain (Bellanger et al., 2017). Patients should seek clarification on the safety of CAM products from physicians to avoid health risks.

3 6. How to integrate conventional medicine and CAM Patient education and general conversation are the first approaches to integrating CAM and conventional medicine. The interventions help clinicians to determine how specific CAM treatments affect patient outcomes (Agarwal, 2018). Clinicians could also integrate various CAM treatments into the treatment plan. For instance, therapists can include acupuncture, massage, and yoga in a person's treatment plan, especially for severe muscular pain.

7. Defining ethical theories, principles, and values Ethical principles, theories, and values form the basis of ethical analysis. They are the perspectives from which health professionals obtain guidance along decision-making pathways (Butts & Rich, 2019). Ethical theories are defined as formal statements concerning what professionals need to do when confronting ethical dilemmas (Butts & Rich, 2019). Ethical principles are integral components of normative theories that rationalize moral rules. Values are defined as standard behaviors that distinguish between moral and immoral.

8. Ethical issues in patient education and compliance Ethical issues may arise during patient education and compliance. These issues include the privacy and confidentiality of the patient, end-of-life issues, patient safety, relationships, and discrimination (Butts & Rich, 2019). Care providers must uphold the privacy and confidentiality of their clients during patient education. Any information gathered during physician-patient conversations should be kept strictly confidential. Moreover, clinicians should never develop sexual relations with their clients. Instead, professionals should promote positive interactions with clients. Positive interactions enable clients to build trust with professionals (Butts & Rich, 2019). Patients participate in education and comply with instructions if a positive physicianpatient interaction exists.

4 9. Ethical patient education practices These are the proper ways of conducting patient education. Through their own volition and proper information, patients make decisions concerning acceptance, concordance, and compliance with specific treatment modalities (Scher & Kozlowska, 2018). These practices demonstrate respect for the client’s values and interests. The client is not coerced to accept interventions that contradict their cultural values.

10. Informed consent Informed consent indicates the patient’s voluntary acceptance of a specific treatment. It is a legal document whose chief purpose is patient protection. It ensures that clinicians provide clients with relevant information concerning treatment and patient’s health (Shah, Thornton, Turrin, & Hipskind, 2021). Informed consent demonstrates the patient’s competency in decisionmaking, information disclosure, and the unforced decision-making process.

11. Factors that influence the patient’s ability to give informed consent Personal, behavioral, and social factors affect the patient’s ability to make medical decisions and give informed consent. While obtaining informed consent, the clinician provides the patient with sufficient treatment plan details (Shah et al., 2021). Patients use their cognitive skills to make a rational, voluntary decision to accept treatment. The lack of proper cognitive skills hampers the patient’s ability to make decisions. Poor decision-making skills and critical health conditions might also affect the informed consent process (Shah et al., 2021).

5 12. Sample of informed consent form Healthcare consent form (to be completed by a person above 18 years of age) Date: Client’s name: …………….

Physician: ………………….

Type of treatment: Laser Retinopexy Eye:

left

right

I, at this moment, consent to laser treatment of my left eye conducted by Dr. ………

Dr. ……… has explained the diagnosis, the treatment, the benefits, and potential risks I consent to anesthesia administration I admit that I have read and comprehend the above.

Signature

date

Patient: …………

Witness: …………

13. The communication process while obtaining informed consent The process of obtaining informed consent involves adequately informing the client, the family, or the legal representative to increase the knowledge of the topic and improve their decision-making ability. The clinician actively engages these parties and provides them ample time to ask and respond to questions regarding particular interventions (University of California, 2021). The clinician relies on the patient’s responses to determine if they have understood the topic. Finally, the clinician obtains a formal voluntary agreement from the client.

6 References Agarwal, V. (2018). CAM provider knowledge discourse on holistic health. Frontiers in Communication, 3, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2018.00015 Bellanger, R. A., Seeger, C. M., & Smith, H. E. (2017). Safety of CAM treatments and practices.

Side Effects of Drugs Annual, 39, 503-512. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.seda.2017.06.015 Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. L. (2019). Nursing ethics: Across the curriculum and into practice. Jones & Bartlett Learning Cohen, (2021). 5 misconceptions about alternative medicine today. https://gobeyondrelief.com/5-misconceptions-about-alternative-medicine/ NIH (2021) Complementary and alternative medicine. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam Scher, S. R., & Kozlowska, K. (2018). Rethinking health care ethics. Palgrave Macmillan Shah, P., Thornton, I., Turrin, D., & Hipskind, J. E. (2021). Informed consent. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430827/ University of California (2021). How to consent. https://www.research.uci.edu/compliance/human-research-protections/researchers/howto-consent.html