ANSWER
Your article emphasises a crucial feature of contemporary medicine: the combination of Western and alternative therapies to provide a more complete, patient-centered approach. You do a good job of outlining the advantages of combining conventional therapies with modalities like chiropractic care or acupuncture, therefore enabling patients to make wise decisions. But your observation on variations resulting from philosophical and legal distinctions is quite important. Building mutual respect and enhancing patient outcomes depend on filling in these gaps by cooperative communication as you advised. Respecting patient preferences and stressing evidence-based methods would help to close the gap and promote a really integrated healthcare system. Fantastic observations!
QUESTION
PLEASE RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING POST OF A CLASSMATE IN 100 WORDS, Remember that your posts must be substantive and contribute to the dialogue that is taking place. :
The collaboration of alternative medicine practitioners with Western medical practice may be different, some may consider them as partners and others as adversaries. On the one hand, alternative practitioners alter the approach by offering complementing approaches such as holistic healing, personalized treatment, and natural remedies (Rakel & Minichiello, 2020). With their focus on tackling root causes and general well-being, they share common ground with the patient-centered orientation in Western medicine. Incorporating modalities like chiropractic care, acupuncture or massage therapy into the usual treatments expands the options, and consequently, makes individual choice and preference possible (Rakel & Minichiello, 2020).
Discrepancy between Western medicine and alternative methods of care can develop because of different philosophical backgrounds, treatment techniques, and regulatory standards. According to critics, some alternative medicines have no enough evidence of effectiveness and safety which could spur conflicts between science-based medicine and evidence-based medicine. Besides diverse educational backgrounds and scope of practices, gaps in knowledge are also the factors that lead to the miscommunication within the healthcare community (Rakel & Minichiello, 2020). Nevertheless, meaningful collaboration and communication between the clinicians in both professions is paramount and it would generate mutual respect and understanding among them. It largely depends on accepting a holistic, patient-oriented approach of care.
References
Rakel, D. P., & Minichiello, V. (Eds.). (2022). Integrative Medicine, eBook: Integrative Medicine, eBook. Elsevier health sciences.