ABSTRACT
We are witnessing a remarkable and widespread surge of interest in complementary & alternative medicine (CAM) and an increasing use of CAM practitioners (Eisenberg et al, 1993, 1998; McGregor and Peay, 1996; Lloyd et al, 1991; Thomas et al, 1991; Mills and Peacock, 1997; Lewith and Aldridge, 1993; CTV/Angus Reid Group, 1997). One of the reasons that has been cited for the current attraction to CAM practitioners is that they are more empathic and collaborative than physicians and take a greater interest in the individual psycho-social aspects of their patients’ lives (Bakx, 1991; Oths, 1994). Patients are said to choose CAM practitioners because they seek a more satisfying therapeutic relationship (Brinkhaus et al, 1998). It has also been suggested that the high degree of rapport that exists between the alternative practitioner and his/her patient has a powerful placebo effect and may indeed be the key factor in the ability of these practitioners to help their patients (Ernst, 1995). However, the assumption that CAM patients have more positive and valuable relationships with their practitioners than do patients of family physicians has not yet been subjected to rigorous research (Mitchell and Cormack, 1998). It is a notion that requires serious examination rather than stereotypical thinking.
