Food for thought when exploring and discussing health practices

Complementary/ alternative medicine

The terms ‘alternative’, ‘holistic’ and ‘complementary’ are commonly used interchangeably as a way of referring to any health intervention that lies outside of conventional medical approaches. Such therapies and approaches can be categorized into five domains:

• Manipulative and body-based treatments which focus on the relationship between the structures and systems of the body and manipulations to induce health and wellbeing. Treatments include reflexology, chiropractic and massage therapies.

• Alternative medical systems, which are systems of health theory and practice which have developed separately from conventional medicine. They include naturopathy, Chinese medicine and homeopathy.

• Biologically based practices that use naturally occurring materials to affect health and include diet and botanical therapies.

• Mind-body interventions based on the theory that physical health is influenced by emotional and mental factors. Examples include hypnosis, meditation and mindfulness.

Energy therapies which stem from the core belief that fields of energy called biofields exist in and around the body, and as such can be manipulated by energy practitioners or by using external energy sources such as electromagnetic fields. Examples of therapies include acupuncture, Reiki and magnet therapy.

Traditional Medicine

Traditional medicine has a long history. It is the sum total of the knowledge, skill, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness.