Since the 1960’s, Americans have become increasingly familiar with the terms alternative medicine and complementary medicine, and have applied them to healing methods such as massage, acupuncture, and nutrition therapy. However, mounting scientific evidence on the safety and efficacy of such treatments has led to the creation of a new term: integrative medicine, or IM.
IM combines mainstream medical therapies with non-conventional complementary therapies. However, IM only uses complementary therapies for which there is some high-quality scientific evidence of safety and effectiveness. In short, IM utilizes all appropriate, evidence-based therapies to achieve health.
This common sense but scientifically rooted concept is catching on with the American public, who now partner with their family physicians to include evidence-based, non-conventional treatments in their healthcare regimes. Practice of IM has become so credible that the American Hospital Association states that more than 16% of hospitals, including leading medical facilities at Harvard, Mayo, and Duke, feature IM centers as part of their institutions. Among hospitals not currently offering IM, 24% stated that they planned to do so in the future.
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