Book Description:
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) today attracts significant attention through online health and consumer forums, professional CAM-practitioner associations and conferences, the recent growth in integrative biomedicine, and through the influence of advertisements and documentary presentations in mass media. A majority or large minority of consumers in developed countries regularly resort to professional CAM for supportive treatment for sickness in the form of chiropractic, osteopathic, prescribed dietary changes, acupuncture, massage, homeopathy, naturopathy and herbal medicine, and also use numerous associated lifestyle practices such as vegetarianism, nutritional supplementation, yoga and tai chi for self-treatment and to maintain general wellbeing. Many leading health insurance funds now provide generous rebates against out-of-pocket fees paid by consumers for private-sector CAM consultations. Furthermore, populations of developing countries continue to depend heavily on traditional herbal medicine and psycho-spiritual practices for their healing, on account of pharmaceutical treatments being often unaffordable or unavailable to them.

Chapters of this book include literature reviews (such as study findings about the benefits of CAM for elderly persons and of laughter therapy, from the USA, and herbal treatments for pain, in Mauritius), and original studies (poor CAM consumers in Australia, the location of naturopaths’ practice in Canada, and the use of mindfulness meditation among nursing students in Scotland). Study findings presented here are enjoyable in their diversity, and add to contemporary literature both by presenting common perceptions about CAM, by engaging in discussion of its prevalence and popularity in diverse contexts, and the contentious topic of placebo effect and the questions that arise as to how to prove effectiveness for alternative healing methods, while reviewing some potential clinical benefits. (Imprint: Nova Biomedical)

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Table of Contents:
Preface
pp. vii

Part One: Users
pp. 1-48

Chapter 1
Update on the Use of Alternative Medicine by the Elderly
(E. Paul Cherniack, Geriatrics and Extended Care Service and Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC) of the Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami FL, USA)
pp. 3-20

Chapter 2
Alternative Worldviews and Health-Consumer Agency are Associated with use of Complementary Medicine (CAM) among Poorer Rural Consumers in Australia
(Tass Holmes, University of Melbourne, School of Social and Political Sciences – Anthropology, Australia)
pp. 21-48

Part Two: Practitioners
pp. 49-76

Chapter 3
Naturopathic Doctor Offices in Ontario, Canada: The Relevance of Visible Locations and Patient Proximity
(Stephen P. Meyer, Anita Kieswetter, School of Northern Development/Geography Division, Laurentian University, Greater Sudbury, ON, Canada, and others)
pp. 51-76

Part Three: Methods
pp. 77-178

Chapter 4
A Brief Mindfulness-Based Meditation Intervention in Nursing Students: Report on a Mixed Methodology Feasibility Study
(Jenny Jones, Mariyana Schoultz, Angus J. M. Watson, Stephen J. Leslie, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health, University of Stirling, Inverness, Stirling, Scotland, and others)
pp. 79-104

Chapter 5
The Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicines in Psychiatric Disorders
(David W. Thrower, Oliver Grundmann, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA)
pp. 105-140

Chapter 6
Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Pain Management
(D. Priyamka Sreekeesoon, M. Fawzi Mahomoodally, Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius, East Africa)
pp. 141-170

Chapter 7
The Potential for Laughter & Humor Therapy in the Elderly
(E. Paul Cherniack, Geriatrics and Extended Care Service and Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC) of the Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami FL, USA)
pp. 171-178

Editor Contact Information
pp. 179-180

Index
pp. 181