RESEARCH METHODOLOGY POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
FRIDAY, 5:45-6:30 PM
Fønnebø V, Grimsgaard S.
A new research strategy in CAM research tailored to the
clinical reality of CAM practice.
National Research Center in Complementary and
Alternative Medicine Vinjar.Fonnebo@fagmed.uit.no
PURPOSE: Present a comprehensive research strategy
for complementary, alternative and integrative medicine.
METHODS: Reflections over research methodology
in CAM after being involved in CAM research since 1992 on a national
and international level.
RESULTS: Researchers in CAM have tried to develop
research strategies and approaches that all have been more or less approaches
trying to mimic the single "component" model used in conventional medicine.
The results have, in general, failed to discover clinically significant
effects, and do not seem to agree with patients' general experience
with CAM treatments. We propose a new research approach in the field
of CAM without new elements. The model does, however, cover a broader
aspect of the clinical landscape in CAM. The model is not meant as a
strictly chronological sequence of when the research components should
take place, but is meant as a framework in which to understand the processes
going on, and also illustrates the building blocks necessary for a comprehensive
contribution to the body of knowledge.
1. Descriptive/contextual research. Research
aimed at understanding what the treatment procedure is, what philosophical
foundations underlie it, what are its ideas about health and disease,
what is the contextual framework around its use, how many patients use
it, what segments of the patient population use it, for what.
2. Safety research. Research aimed at determining the safety of the
treatment approach.
3. System level research. Research aimed at determining the effect of
CAM delivered as a "whole system" package.
4. Component level research. Research aimed at determining the effect
of a single component of the "total package".
5. Biologic mechanism. Research aimed at understanding physiologic mechanisms
in CAM treatment effects.
As can be seen from the model, research in this
field in the past has mainly been performed at level 4, but there is
increasing international demand for research at levels 1 to 3.
CONCLUSIONS: The model gives a better framework
for research planning in the CAM field due to its attention to the clinical
reality of the field.
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