Recently, there has been debate on where CAM provides safety approaches in promoting health. Some of these approaches have undergone vigorous evaluation and have been found to be safe and even effective in managing patients with chronic illness such as cancer, diabetes, and HTN. Some of the approaches of CAM include yoga, meditation, acupuncture, massage, and many others. These approaches are used to treat and even manage symptoms of chronic illness, for example cancer. In most cases, cancer patients tend to prefer using CAM approaches because it helps in managing pain and when used alongside standard or traditional medicine, it lessen the side effects of the treatment (Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) 2019). For example, chemotherapy has been known to have severe side effects such as nausea and vomiting and even having difficulty sleeping. These alternative approaches help in reducing the side effects and giving the patient ways to cope during the treatment. CAM therapies include vast arrays of botanical and nutritional products, which most of these have been approved by FDA. Another reason why patients tend to opt for CAM is because most of these supplements do not require prescription to purchase them. This means that it is the decision of the individual or the patient to decide what is best for them.
There have also been growing debate between holistic approach and allopathic care. Both of these are considered to promote healthcare. Holistic approach refers ways to provide support that focuses on the whole individual rather than not just their mental health needs. This means that the support also focuses on the physical and emotional needs of the person as well as social and spiritual wellbeing of the person. These aspects are considered important in the wellbeing of the individual. The aspects in holistic care aim at preventing disease rather than treating the symptoms (Evangelatos & Eliadi, 2019). On the other hand refers to science based or evidence based model. This is focused on more conventional and it is evidence based where it uses doctors and other professional healthcare providers such as nurses to treat symptoms using conventional approaches in medicine. All of these approaches, that is, allopathic and holistic care aim in promoting healthcare. The difference is that, unlike CAM or holistic care, allopathic medicine tends to depend on clinical studies and screening to establish diagnosis by focusing on a person’s symptoms and signs before instilling treatment (Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) 2019). In my opinion, both of these approaches promote healthcare and because of this, I don’t have any conflict if the patient decide to use either of them.
