Traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) usage at the Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP) in Jamkhed, India

Background: Allopathic medicine is the treatment of disease using conventional evidence-based therapies. It has been criticized as a science unwilling to integrate other systems of medicine in practice. Two of the challenges to changing this perception are (1) the absence of best practices models which successfully integrate multiple medical systems of treatment, and (2) the belief that non-conventional treatments are ineffective because of an immature body of medical literature on non-allopathic therapies. The Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP) is an integrative model in a resource-poor setting in India, which utilizes traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) therapies with observed success. Objectives: (1) To describe a successful model of integrative medicine, and (2) to review and analyze current medical evidence of the scientific basis of TCAM treatments used at CRHP to explain clinically observed efficacy. Methods: Ten TCAM treatments were selected for study based on utilization review at CRHP from June to August 2007 through on-site interviews with CRHP staff. A PubMed search for each treatment was performed, and identified articles were reviewed if they evaluated a therapy of interest for a CRHP indication. Results: The twenty-eight articles reviewed elucidated scientific mechanisms for each of the ten TCAM therapies, which were consistent with observed treatment efficacy at CRHP. Conclusions: Data from the reviewed studies coupled with observed successful patient outcomes by CRHP staff proposes that TCAM is a valid treatment option in the CRHP practice, and highlights this rural healthcare provider as a model for integrative medicine in a resource-poor setting.