Traditional, complementary and alternative medical systems and their contribution to personalisation, prediction and prevention in medicine—person-centred medicine

Abstract

Traditional, complementary and alternative medical (TCAM) systems contribute to the foundation of person-centred medicine (PCM), an epistemological orientation for medical science which places the person as a physical, psychological and spiritual entity at the centre of health care and of the therapeutic process. PCM wishes to broaden the bio-molecular reductionistic approach of medical science towards an integration that allows people, doctors, nurses, health-care professionals and patients to become the real protagonists of the health-care scene. The doctor or caregiver needs to act out of empathy to meet the unique value of each human being, which unfolds over the course of a lifetime from conception to natural death. Knowledge of the human being should not be instrumental to economic or political interests, ideology, theories or religious dogma. Research needs to be broadened with methodological tools to investigate person-centred medical interventions. Salutogenesis is a fundamental principle of PCM, promoting health and preventing illness by strengthening the individual's self-healing abilities. TCAM systems also give tools to predict the insurgence of illness and treat it before the appearance of overt organic disease. A task of PCM is to educate people to take better care of their physical, psychological and spiritual health. Health-care education needs to be broadened to give doctors and health-care workers of the future the tools to act in innovative and highly differentiated ways, always guided by deep respect for individual autonomy, personal culture, religion and beliefs.

Medicine in the early twenty-first century: paradigm and anticipation - EPMA position paper 2016

“…PPPM-TCAM hybrid demonstrates a great potential in person-centred and participatory medicine, disease prediction in individuals with suboptimal health condition, targeted prevention and individualised treatments. If properly designed, PPPM-TCAM approach may be of particular value for health care systems that empowers communities and individuals [3, 44]. …”

Potential Benefits of Acupuncture for Enhanced Recovery in Gynaecological Surgery

“…This local situation would provide the feasible model for ERAS with acupuncture giving a basis for implementation in practice. However, the introduced model needs to be tested in controlled clinical trials [30.] …”

Epistemological challenges in contemporary Western healthcare systems exemplified by people’s widespread use of complementary and alternative medicine

“…The increasing use of CAM during the last decades may, to some extent, be perceived as a patient critique of public healthcare systems and the biomedical perspective on health and illness. It may also be perceived as an orientation toward a more individualized and experience-based understanding It has been argued that the widespread interest in and use of CAM indirectly contributes to the foundation of person-centered medicine, where the unique person is positioned at the center of healthcare and the therapeutic process (e.g., Author 1, 2015b;Bodeker et al, 2007;Danell 2015;Sarsina et al, 2012;Mao et al, 2008;Verhoef et al, 2006).…”

“…The widespread and continuing use of CAM in many Western countries has been explained in terms of self-care and holistic approaches to health and illness (e.g., Author 1 et al 2010Author 1 et al , 2012aAuthor 1 et al , 2012bBaarts and Pedersen, 2009;Coulter and Willis, 2007;Danell, 2015;Eisenberg, 1993;Siahpush, 1998, ZZ et al, 2016Verhoef et al, 2006). Furthermore, CAM use has been interpreted as a counter-trend against "biomedicalization" (Clarke, 2014) and a contribution to personalization and prevention of illness (Author 1 2015b;Danell 2015;Sarsina et al, 2012). Antonovsky claims that in order for patients in public healthcare to experience control and that their own efforts can make a difference, the patients' active approach has to be socially valued.…”