Trust in Complementary Medicine: The Case of Cranial Osteopathy

Abstract

Trust has been seen as operating within situations in which an individual's ability to assess risk or probability is absent and yet they still choose to believe in something. The development of new sets of knowledge in modern societies raises interesting questions about how the public come to trust the 'experts' who practice them and there is a paucity of work which addresses how trust 'happens' in these new relationships. This paper uses the accounts of patients who use cranial osteopathy to discuss the bases of trust in complementary medicine. It is argued that the practitioner and their therapy is not the basis of patient trust. For the initial attendance the patient relies upon the accounts and credibility of other people (network trust). After this it is the phenomenological work of the patient, who strives to find meaning in the treatments they experience, which is essential to the development of trust relationships. The paper demonstrated that patients mobilise ideas and understandings which they are familiar with to understand the unfamiliar and that it is this process of seeking meaning which is central to the creation of trust.

Actions speak louder than words: the embodiment of trust by healthcare professionals in gynae‐oncology

“…It must be recognised, however, that this study has referred quite exclusively (theoretically and empirically) to the context of gynae‐oncology and thus to a particular physiological, emotional, clinical, cultural and gendered context of body work. Trust and the way that it is embodied through presentation‐of‐self and body work as touch is likely to vary markedly across clinical settings – as the aspects of Lee‐Treweek’s (2002) study which touch on the embodying of trust in a quite different setting (cranial osteopathy) make apparent. Further research in terms of cross‐contextual comparisons would no doubt help to refine understandings of the way in which competencies and motivations might be embodied in different modes across a range of healthcare contexts.…”

Farm Parents' Attitudes Towards Farm Safety Experts*

“…Trust is a multi-dimensional concept that applies at different levels throughout the social system and that may have different bases in different situations. Lee-Treweek (2002) suggests that trust arises in situations where individuals lack the ability to assess risks and probabilities but choose to believe in something anyway. As a result, trust can be defined as a form of ''faith'' in which the confidence vested in probable outcomes expresses a commitment to something rather than just a cognitive understanding (Lee-Treweek 2002).…”

“…Lee-Treweek (2002) suggests that trust arises in situations where individuals lack the ability to assess risks and probabilities but choose to believe in something anyway. As a result, trust can be defined as a form of ''faith'' in which the confidence vested in probable outcomes expresses a commitment to something rather than just a cognitive understanding (Lee-Treweek 2002). In this sense, trust can be understood as a problem-solving tool that functions to reduce cognitive complexity (Earle and Cvetkovich 1995) and anxiety from risk and uncertainty (Siegrist and Cvetkovich 2000).…”

Testing the Traditional Chinese Medicine Consultation Model for Adherence in Complementary and Alternative Medicine

“…The therapeutic relationship has been found to enhance patient adherence with CAM in the literature. Qualitative and quantitative studies show a direct impact [ 16 , 17 ]. This is consistent with overall adherence in the current study, but not between the types.…”

“…There are known differences in patient preference for the type of support between CAM. For example, emotional support is not desired in osteopathy [ 17 ] but in TCM [ 3 , 23 ]. The variation could explain why only a few behaviours showed statistically significant association between support and adherence in this study.…”