An Analysis of Complementary Therapies: Usage, and Regulation

This report delves into the realm of complementary therapies, offering a comprehensive overview of their principles, various treatment processes, and practical applications. The report explores three main categories of therapies: pharmaceutical-mediated (including herbal medicine and homeopathy), physically-mediated (such as Alexander Technique, reflexology, aromatherapy, and acupuncture), and psychologically-mediated (counseling). It assesses the advantages and disadvantages of these therapies, examining factors influencing access to them both locally and nationally, including economic, geographical, social, educational, and referral system considerations. The report also analyzes the reliability of information sources on complementary therapies, evaluating the effectiveness of current regulatory systems and offering recommendations for improvement. Through this analysis, the report aims to provide a detailed understanding of the role, benefits, and regulatory landscape of complementary therapies in healthcare.

Complementary Therapies

Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
LO1 Understand the principals behind complementary therapies and their usages........................5
Introduction..................................................................................................................................5
1.1 Explain the treatment process for widely available treatment therapies...............................5
1.2 Assess the advantages and disadvantages of the complementary therapies..........................7
1.3 Analyse factors influencing access to complementary therapies, both locally and
nationally...................................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................11
LO2 Understand the role of complementary therapies in relation to orthodox treatments...............
Boonot defined.
2.1 Analyse the role of complementary therapies in relation to orthodox medicine.....................
Bookmark not defined.
2.2 Evaluate evidence which claims the benefit of compliment therapies.......... Bookmark not
defined.
2.3 Assess the psychological effects of complementary therapies...........Error! Bookmark not
defined.
2.4 Compare the contraindications between complementary therapies and orthodox
medicine................................................................................................ Bookmark not defined.
LO3 Be able to analyse evidence of effectiveness in complementary therapies in maintaining
health and wellbeing.................................................................................. Bookmark not defined.
3.1 Analyse the reliability of information sources on complementary therapies......................12
3.2 Evaluate evidence which claims the benefit of compliment therapies................................14
3.3 Make recommendations based on the evidence gathered for the use of complementary
therapies within a specific group of users of social healthcare users........................................14
LO4 Be able to carry out an evaluation of the systems for regulating the use of
complementary therapies...............................................................................................................15
4.1 Evaluate the effectiveness of current regulatory systems for the use of complementary
therapies.....................................................................................................................................15
4.2 Make recommendations, supported by evidence for improving the regulatory systems
for the use of complementary therapies.....................................................................................17
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................17
Reference.......................................................................................................................................19

Introduction
Complimentary treatments are the additional treatments which are provided to the patients and this
type of treatments are different than the traditional treatments. The patients are provided with extra
care by the complimentary treatments in cases when the traditional medications fail to help them and
in other cases the patients believe in the alternative treatment than the traditional ones. The concepts,
significance, and types of complementary therapies will be provided in this report. The treatment
methods and the benefits and drawback of the complementary treatments will be discussed in this
report. There are some specific factors which create an impact on the treatment process which will be
explained in this report.

LO1 Understand the principals behind complementary therapies and their
usages
Introduction
Complementary therapies are not meant for curing the patients. It tries to help the patients to deal with
their health complications and in some cases these therapies also work to prevent the heath issue from
affecting the health of the individuals. There are different types of therapies, each with its own
advantages and disadvantages. Accessing these therapies influenced by various factors. So it is
important to understand the principles which are behind the complementary therapies and use of the
therapies.
1.1 Explain the treatment process for widely available treatment therapies
Different types of contemporary treatments are available now-a-days and all of those have some
specific significances. The complementary treatments which are available can be divided into three
basic categories which are-
 Pharmaceutical mediated
 Physically mediated
 Psychological mediated
Three types of complementary treatments from the three categories are now described below-
 Pharmaceutical mediated
Herbal medicine: This type of treatment is done through giving the patients medicine created using
herbs, roots and other plant products. As they are organic they deem to have no side effect. India and
china is known for this form of treatment (Werner, 2014).
Homeopathy: this was first created in Germany and this too makes use of liquids to be given to
patients to heal their symptoms. They are considerably inexpensive and deems to have no side effects
either. A lot of the times this medication is also considered to be ineffective as the formulas for the
medication are very hard to get right.
 Physically mediated
Alexander Technique

Alexander technique is one of the most well-known treatments and is very beneficial for the patients.
Though it is a lengthy treatment process, the patients can be benefited by it in many ways (Acred,
2014).
Based on the Alexander techniques, the patients are suggested to improve their daily movements by
following some specific rules. The way of movement, sitting, walking is improved in order to
minimise the health-related problems (Barrilleaux, 2014). The posture problems are identified by
analysing the way of sitting, standing and walking. The sitting posture related problems can be
identified by determining the way of sitting. The experts suggest keeping the neck straight while
sitting. By this, the body movements and the postures are improved by following the Alexander
technique.
Reflexology
Reflexology is the process of providing treatments to the patients to relief from the body pain, tension,
and stress (Anon, 2012). Based on this treatment, the patients can get relieved from the pain and
tensions by applying comfortable pressure on the feet, hands, and head. For example, a person is
suffering from back and shoulder pain. A comfortable massage in the shoulder and neck can help the
individual to minimise the pain. The message will help the individual to decrease the tensions,
discomfort, and stress. This method of treatment is also known as the zone therapy.
Aromatherapy
Here the patients are made to relax by receiving messages in a controlled environment with soothing
smell. The ingredients used are plant based and thereby organic in nature. This treatment has a
soothing effect on the patients and helps reduce stress. Uses of various fragment oils are also very
common in this form of treatment (Werner, 2014).
Acupuncture
In this form of treatment needles are used to puncture skin and manipulate and restore nerve
functions in various parts of the body. This treatment was invented in China and are to be performed
by trained professionals and this has the ability of reducing stress significantly.
Yoga
This treatment was invented in India and this makes use of various postures and breathing exercises to
restore and improve bodily functions. Yoga is gaining a lot of traction in the western world at the
present time as it has been very helpful in improving flexibility and help with pains and other
illnesses.

 Psychological mediated
Counseling
Counseling is the type of complementary treatment which is psychologically mediated. The treatment
of this process involves a person to get help from a professional counselor regarding the mental illness
or personal challenges he has been facing. This type of treatment neither needs any kind of medicines
or physical activities. The counselor provides treatment to the person who needs that by simply
talking and understanding the real state of mind of that person. Counseling can be done as many times
as the counselor thinks is appropriate.
1.2 Assess the advantages and disadvantages of the complementary therapies
Although the complementary therapies are beneficial for ensuring the betterment of the patients, there
are also some disadvantages of these treatments which should be considered while providing the
treatments to the patients. The advantages and disadvantages of the treatments have been discussed in
the following-
Alexander technique
The advantages:
 Alexander technique is beneficial for improving the gestures.
 This technique helps to increase the stamina of the patients (Beckmann, 2015).
 The confident level of the patients can be increased a lot by this technique.
 This technique helps to increase the stamina and attentiveness of the patients.
The disadvantages:
 Some patients are unable to get the benefit of this treatment because of their health
condition.
 This technique is not suitable for patients who are unable to move.
 This technique takes a long time to improve the condition of the body.

Reflexology
The advantages:
 This treatment is beneficial for minimising the stress of the patients.
 This treatment is beneficial for minimisingbody pain, musclepain, shoulder pain,and
headache.
 The patients can take advantage of this treatment without any difficulties.
The disadvantages:
 If this treatment is not provided following the appropriate method, it can be harmful
to the patients.
 Only skilled experts can implement this treatment (Page, 2012).
 This is a temporary method for reducing the pain. So, the pain may occur over again.
Counseling
The advantages:
 A lot of mental illnesses in the primary stage can be cured by counseling.
 The treatment does not involve any physical activity which makes it less scary for
some people.
 There are certain facts which a person cannot share to his near and dear ones and
which creates huge impacts on his minds. A counselor can help a great deal in that as
sharing those makes the patient’s mind relaxed and stress-free.
The disadvantages:
 As the counselor is the only one who has the knowledge about the problems, the
solutions are also devoid of diversity and this may sometimes affect quick treatment.
 Sometimes, the patient may get too much attached with the counselor by sharing the
extreme personal emotions and thoughts with him.
 The counselor may not always have the solution to the problems which the patients
come with.

1.3 Analyze factors influencing access to complementary therapies, both locally
and nationally
There are some distinct factors which create a great impact on the practice of the complementary
therapies in both local and national aspects. The factors have been provided below-
Economic factors:
The complementary therapies are costly than the other treatments and the economically unstable
people cannot afford the cost of the complementary therapies. Though the therapies are required
expert professionals, it is a costly process and many people are unable to pay the cost.
Geographical factors:
The geographical factors also create a major effect on practicing the complementary therapies.
Though the complementary therapies are not available in the rural area, the people from rural area
face difficulties in taking the treatments of complementary therapies (Werner, 2014).
Social factors:
Many people feel hesitated in taking the service of complementary therapies. The difference in value
and social aspects create a major effect on the practice of complementary therapies. Due to the social
factors, people do not feel comfortable in taking the complementary therapies.
Educational factors:
There are some people who are not aware of the benefits of the complementary therapies. So, they
totally avoid this treatment due to lack of proper knowledge. The proper knowledge about these
treatments should be provided to them to make them used to do with it.
Referral systems
Sometimes referral systems are used by the healthcare professionals to forward their patients to
complementary therapy centre. If the patient has certain health issues that could require therapies,
then the doctors usually give their referrals in the prescriptions so that the patient could make use of
the referral and visit the complementary therapy centre to receive the therapy they need.

Conclusion
The therapies are there for various purposes of the individuals. Not everyone seek the complimentary
therapies. So there are factors which can influence the users to consider taking complimentary
therapies. But they should go for the right complimentary therapies. Understanding which
complimentary therapies is for what can be a lot beneficial for the users if they want to benefit from
the outcomes.

Task 2 Poster
Task 3
3.1 Analyze the reliability of information sources on complementary therapies
The validity indicates when the measurement meets the expectations of measurements while the
reliability indicates when repeated measurements meet a specific scale. There are several sources of
information which are used by the general people in order to collect knowledge about the use of
complementary therapies. The reliability of those information sources are described in the following-
The general people can collect information about the complementary therapies by using online blogs.
The news and articles posted on the online blogs are a huge source of information for the people. The
authenticity of the news and posts should be verified and analysed by checking a lot of blogs. The
online blogs are usually reliable but not always valid, until it has valid references.
The documentary films are the large source of information and the general people can know about the
origins and uses of the complementary therapies. People can know all the aspect related to the
complementary therapies by watching documentary films which have been made based on
complementary therapies. The documentary films are an authentic source which is beneficial for
people to know about the concepts, uses, and benefits of complementary therapies. The documentary

films tend to be valid and reliable since most of the information shown in the documentary is
collected from actual sources or individuals related with the films which is why the information are
reliable to use.
There are several news channels which provide information related to the complementary therapies.
The general people can take a look over those news channels which provide health-related news and
guidelines to the people. The information provided by the news channels is authentic than the other
sources (Sundberg, 2014). News channels are also valid and reliable.

3.2 Evaluate evidence which claims the benefit of compliment therapies
The benefits of using the complementary therapies are too many to describe. There are several types
of complementary therapies which are effective for curing the patients by minimising the difficulties
related to their health issues.
There are many people who face difficulties in moving their body and postures. The Alexander
technique is beneficial for minimising the difficulties of postures and body movements. The
effectiveness of this therapy has been proved in many ways. There are several online blog posts and
news which shows the authenticity of using the Alexander Techniques to get rid of the difficulties of
posture and body movement.
The healthcare professionals have provided the necessary guidelines regarding the use of the
Alexander technique through online blogs, news and TV channels. The benefits and guideline have
been highlighted in the several documentary films which show the reliability of the therapies.
There are many video tutorials exists in the social media which is a great source of information. The
guidelines and benefits of the complementary therapies are provided in there. General people can
know the importance and beneficial aspects of using the complementary therapies by watching those
video tutorials on a regular basis.
As per the article in cejsh.icm.edu.pl the case of a 13 year old boy who was suffering from severe
depression from a very young age. The condition of the boy was so severe that he was seen to have
tries committing suicide for multiple times. No orthodox treatment or medicine could treat the boy
and make him feel good. Thus the parents of the boy seek help from the contemporary treatment and
consulted with a counselor in this regard. Holding different sessions, the therapist became successful
in treating the boy fully and in bringing him out of the misery in which he was.
3.3 Make recommendations based on the evidence gathered for the use of
complementary therapies within a specific group of users of social healthcare
users
There is much evidence which shows the reliability of using the complementary therapies for solving
health issues. There commendations have been provided in the following-
It is crucial for healthcare professionals to come forward to highlight the benefits of using the
complementary therapies to the general people. The benefits of the complementary therapies should

be heightened by using online blog posts, news channels, and social media. Social media can be used
for promoting the use of complementary therapies.
The Alexander technique can help a lot if it is used on a regular basis. Forgetting the best outcome
from this technique, the health condition, age, and gender should be considered while selecting the
treatment method. This therapy can be an ideal one for the people who are of young age as this
concern with a lot of habits which the young people possess and change them in being good ones. The
people of the young generation gets stressed very easily as they are always actively doing something.
The Alexander techniques can help a lot in this regard and help them to be free from the stress
through the exercise of this particular complementary treatment.
Before providing the treatments of complementary therapies, it is crucial for the therapists to analyze
the health condition of the patients’ properly. If the patients are suffering from muscle stress or
similar problems then Reflexology can be used for them. It is another kind of complementary
treatment which helps in combating with a lot of physical issues which the people deal with. The
reflexology treatment puts focus on the feet and our feet are the body organs which the whole weight
of our body and thus endure a lot of pressure. The groups of people who work heavy works and have
to walk and carry a lot of weight during working are most benefitted by this kind of complementary
treatment. This therapy helps them in reducing the swelling that occurs in their feet due to walking
and also makes them stress-free with the exercises included with the therapy. This therapy also assists
in reducing the body pain and helps the patients to relax and have better sleep. All these are very
needed for the working class people and that is, the reflexology treatment is very fruitful for this
particular group of people.
Regular communication with the patients should be ensured in order to make the whole process
successful. The importance of using complementary therapies should be highlighted properly by
arranging various health campaigning programs.
LO4 Be able to carry out an evaluation of the systems for regulating the use
of complementary therapies
4.1 Evaluate the effectiveness of current regulatory systems for the use of
complementary therapies
The regulatory system involves ways to monitor and control the ways a broader system is operated
with specific objective.

The usual healthcare rules and regulations should be followed while implementing the complementary
therapies. For this, the regular practice of the complementary therapies should be ensured to get the
best result.
While implementing the Alexander technique, the regulations of the healthcare system should be
followed and the diversity policies should be maintained properly while providing the treatments to
the patients. The PAAT was developed to provide training and teaching professionals the Alexander
Training. The PAAT monitors and controls the way the Alexander Technique is ensured by the
healthcare professionals. These laws have been implements well and now the care providers are well
trained and are able to provide safer services.
Based on the equity act, any kind of discrimination should be avoided while implementing the
treatments of complementary therapies. The patients should be provided with equal facilities and their
health needs and requirements should be fulfilled properly.
While accomplishing the tasks of complementary treatments, the therapists should safeguard the
personal information of the patients. For this, the data protection act has been developed. Privacy
should be maintained while providing the services of complementary treatments to the service users.
There are many organisations such as PAAT and STAT which play a major role in ensuring the
successful practice of the Alexander technique. The Alexander technique is suggested to implement
by the professionals only and the privacy is maintained while undertaking the overall process.
The regulation for osteopathy also has rules which the professionals have to maintain. The osteopaths
have to be registered with the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) which also requires the
osteopaths to have the qualifications in osteopathy.
The regulation for osteopathy can benefit in many ways. The regulations ensure that the professional
who are interested in osteopathy have the right qualifications. So professionals involved in osteopaths
usually are certified which is why the service users can rely on them. However, the limitation of the
regulations involve in osteopathy not being used for patients who have fractures, infections, some
types of arthritis etc. So the regulations are necessary in terms of the safety of the patients taking the
service from the organization.

4.2 Make recommendations, supported by evidence for improving the regulatory
systems for the use of complementary therapies
It is crucial for healthcare professionals to improve the practice of complementary therapies. For this,
the regulatory system should be maintained on a regular basis. The recommendations regarding this
issue has been provided below-
 Complimentary therapy, especially osteopathy requires the healthcare organisations
to provide the training facilities to their healthcare experts to make them more skilled
in practicing the complementary therapies to the patients.
 The promotional activities should be done by using several media. The social media
platform can be a great place to promote the importance of using complementary
therapies so people who are interested in taking osteopathy can learn more about its
benefits when using this service from the therapy.
 The health campaigning programs should be arranged by the agencies and the
healthcare organisations to raise awareness about the benefits of using the
complementary therapies for the betterment of health.
 The local and global news channels should put more emphasis on promoting
complementary therapies. The same goes for osteopathy as well. The healthcare
organisations should come forward to promote the use of complementary therapies
among their patients. For instance, if the healthcare professionals could refer the
patients to seek osteopathy when they need it, then the patients will likely rely on the
opinion of their doctor more than relying on other sources which is why the
professionals can play important role for the organization.
The link below is an article providing the evidence of the different kinds of legal implications for
complementary kind of treatments practicing all over the world. It has discussions on the types
and nature of the treatments which are available and the regulations set by the WHO in this regard
as well.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3459458/
Conclusion
The use of complementary therapies is beneficial for ensuring the betterment of the patients in many
ways. It is crucial for the healthcare sector to provide knowledge to the patients about the use and

benefit of complementary therapies. The general people can also gather knowledge information about
the use and principles of complementary therapies. This report has provided all the regulations, uses
and benefits of the various complementary therapies in brief.

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