Complementary medicine
Is Registration of Chinese Medicine Protecting Public Health and Safety?
The Chinese Medicine Registration Act 2000 was passed in May 2000, the culmination of five years of policy research, development and debate. While transparent mechanisms for protection of public health and safety have been put into place, the effectiveness of the regulatory process in ensuring acceptable standards of health care delivery ultimately rests with the community. This article explores the extent to which the objectives of the Victorian Chinese Medicine Registration Act 2000 have been met.
Self–care is Important but Buyer Beware
Self-care plays an important role in enhancing and restoring health, preventing disease and limiting the effects of chronic illness. It consists of routine health maintenance activities such as healthy eating and personal hygiene, preventative health activities such as exercising and self-examination, initiation of symptom-relieving behaviours, complying with professionally prescribed treatments, and the taking of non-prescription and complementary medicines. This article looks briefly at the regulations that affect non-prescription and complementary medicines, and what issues consumers need to be aware of when using these medicines.
Statutory Registration of Naturopaths and Western Herbal Medicine Practitioners
A review of the risks and regulatory requirements of complementary healthcare (RRRCH), recently released by the Victorian Government, recommends statutory regulation of naturopaths and Western herbal medicine practitioners (WHM). The issue of whether naturopaths and WHM practitioners ought to be regulated more stringently has been debated for decades, particularly between practitioners and their professional associations. This article gives background to the registration debate and looks at some of the benefits and limitation of statutory registration for naturopaths and WHM practitioners, both from consumer and practitioner perspectives.
Tai Chi: Can This Gentle Form of Exercise Achieve Health Benefits for Older People
Tai Chi is gaining popularity as a form of exercise for older people in Australia. While there is growing interest in this type of exercise, there remains considerable lack of understanding about the different types of Tai Chi, and that these different types of Tai Chi may be associated with different health benefits, similar to the differing health benefits associated with other forms of exercise, such as walking and strength training. This article provides an overview of Tai Chi as a form of exercise for older people, and describes the research supporting its effectiveness in improving a range of health outcomes for older people.
The Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Australia
Despite apparent high usage of complementary and alterative medicine (CAM) and increased CAM research in Australia, a national profile on CAM use was not available. In an effort to address this gap, an Australia-wide representative population survey on use of 17 forms of CAM was conducted between May and June 2005. This paper aims to provide an overview of the existing data on CAM use in Australia, present our approaches to improve methodological quality of such studies and draw implications from findings and their relevance to health policy, education and management.
Why People with a Chronic Illness Use Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Research indicates that an increasing number of people with chronic illness use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and that these people rarely disclose such use to the biomedical physicians treating them. However, research specifically examining people who require ongoing biomedical treatment from a very early age until death has never before been conducted. This article describes the findings of a study that examined the patterns of CAM use, reasons for CAM use and disclosure of CAM use to treating physicians, among people with a lifelong medical condition—thalassaemia major.
