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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Tammy Soffer, PhD student¹, Avishay Goldberg, PhD¹, and Nadav Davidovitch, MD, MPH, PhD². (1) Health System Management, Ben Gurion University, Moria St. 52/6, Beer Sheva, Israel, 972-52-8560485, tamarso@bgu.ac.il, (2) Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 West 168th Street, 9th floor, New York, NY 10032

Background Recent years have witnessed a growth in awareness among people regarding complementary medicine that has led to a tremendous rise in the number of persons turning to it. At the same time, a number of key issues are problematic: the lack of academic training institutions for complementary medicine practitioners; the lack of standardization in their training; the lack of a legal definition for recognition; and a scarcity of scientific verification regarding purported effectiveness of treatments. Objective Examine attitudes among key informants in the health policy realm in Israel. Methodology The research was based on in-depth interviews with senior figures within the Israeli health system like: Ministry of Health, hospital heads, deans of medical schools, practitioners and observers with different positions on the issue. Findings Fifty in-depth interviews were conducted. Most agreed that such treatments were added to the health system as a result of public pressure. The majority believe that in the long run complementary medicine can save money for the health system. The importance that respondents assign to scientific research on effectiveness was prominent. Prevailing opinion was that medical schools should integrate complementary medicine within their curriculums and closer supervision of training of practitioners by relevant authorities is needed. Conclusions Complementary medicine has not been integrally incorporated into the Israeli health system. The interviews demonstrate that most health policy-makers believe complementary medicine should be integrated into the conventional health system in a controlled manner. The research presents a model for integrating complementary medicine into the health system.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the problems in the field of complementary medicine.
• Discuss different key issues in the field of complementary medicine.
• Evaluate a model for integrating complementary medicine into the health system.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered