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Complementary and Alternative Health Care
Evaluating Emerging Professions
The integration of allopathic and
non-allopathic health care systems, disciplines and modalities is fast
becoming a part of the mainstream health care delivery system in the United
States. However, as a multitude of interested parties rush to be part
of this national phenomenon, there is vast confusion about the delivery
of integrated care. Policy makers, consumers, insurance providers, educators,
researchers and health care practitioners are striving to develop optimal
systems for this new care model. One of the pressing concerns is how to
evaluate emerging professions, particularly those in the complementary
and alternative health care arena.
With funding from The Arkay Foundation, the UCSF Center for the Health
Professions has published Profiling
the Professions: A Model for Evaluating Emerging Health Professions.
The publication has several purposes. It aims first to set standard questions
and areas to cover in an assessment of a profession and second, to identify
themes and issues which themselves provide benchmarks for a profession.
The model's template of questions does not suggest quantitative measures
for assigning scores or values upon which a ranking among professions
could be made because of the significant differences in criteria that
different audiences use to evaluate professions. The study recognizes
that various values and concerns must be addressed in a process through
which recognition of a profession or discipline is gained. It also recognizes
that some common areas of interest exist; these commonalities make up
the model's five issue areas: definition/description of the profession;
safety and efficacy; government and private sector recognition; education
and training; and proactive practice model and viability of the profession.
Using the template of five issue areas and questions in the model, a case
study of naturopathic practice in the US and Canada was completed. Profile
of a Profession: Naturopathic Practice provides information about
naturopathic physicians, naturopaths and others employing naturopathic
modalities. The various groups of individuals providing naturopathic care
necessitated the division of the case study into several chapters, each
with respective definitions, safety and efficacy discussions, summaries
of government and private sector recognition, education and training opportunities,
and indicators of the profession's viability. The information about naturopathic
health care providers is published with the primary intent to help consumers,
educators, legislators, insurers and others evaluate this emerging field
of health care. It is also offered to members of the naturopathic community
as a review of the current status of the naturopathy and naturopathic
medicine and the evolution of the professional groups that provide naturopathic
care to patients and clients. In sum, the report provides a context for
assessing naturopathic health care in a way that can ensure both access
and safety for the public.
For more information, contact Catherine
Dower.
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