Healthc Pap. 2003 ; 3(5): 56-61; discussion 72-7.

Maturation of complementary and alternative healthcare in Canada.

Verhoef M, Findlay B.

Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is increasing rapidly in Canada. This use is mostly driven by consumer demand. While this field of research is relatively new, it is maturing rapidly. This commentary highlights three areas of increasing maturation: the emergence of integrative healthcare; the development and application of new approaches to investigating CAM and integrative healthcare; and the development of a research infrastructure to support these developments. It is encouraging, the authors note, that organizations, networks and federal agencies such as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Health Canada are collectively and collaboratively identifying barriers to these developments and are developing strategies to overcome them.