A few weeks ago, I posted Changing Landscape, a blog that warned healthcare practitioners that Canadians were starting to take more control of their own health and were migrating away from the physician-centred paradigm. At the time, with respect to alternative remedies, I warned: “Any time someone is willing to spend money for a service they can get for free, you have to take notice.”
Well, the numbers are starting to roll in.
This week, the Fraser Institute published Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Canada: Trends in Use and Public Attitudes, 1997-2006, a 2006 survey of 2000 adult Canadians that doesn’t bode well for physicians.
According to the report, 54% of survey respondents had used at least one form of complementary or alternative medicine or therapy in the 12-months prior to the survey—up 4% from a similar 1997 survey. The most common therapies were massage (19%), prayer (16%), chiropracty (15%), relaxation techniques (14%), and herbal remedies (10%). Participants generally stated they used these systems to prevent future illness or to maintain health and vitality.
According to Nadeem Esmail, report author and Fraser Institute Director of Health System Performance, this interest in alternative health translated into $7.8 billion in out-of-pocket expenses—$5.6 billion to therapy providers and $2.2 billion on herbs, vitamins, diet supplements, books, etc.
The good news for healthcare practitioners is that the majority of Canadians still apparently see medical doctors as the main providers of healthcare, with almost half visiting a medical practitioner before launching into alternative therapies.
“These results show Canadians retain confidence in physicians,” Esmail says. But he is quick to add that physicians can’t afford to be complacent. “Since many of the most common problems Canadians suffer from are chronic—allergies, back or neck problems, arthritis, and rheumatism—they require more than just symptomatic treatment. Consequently, Canadians are looking for alternatives.”
The question remains, are Canadian healthcare practitioners ready to respond?
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