TY  - JOUR
AU  - Gray, Alastair C.
AU  - Pracjek, Parker
AU  - Luketic, Christine D.
AU  - Straiges, Denise
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/12/09
TI  - The Use, Profile, Uptake, Characteristics and Attributes of Users of Homeopathy: Initial Findings from a Student Teaching Tele-Healthcare Clinic Based in North America
JO  - OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine
SP  - 069
VL  - 09
IS  - 04
AB  - Research into the uptake profile and usage of Homeopathy has hitherto tended to be buried amongst complementary medicine research. Despite high levels of uptake of homeopathy, and robust numbers of over-the-counter sales of homeopathic products the current evidence evaluating the uptake of homeopathy remains limited on several fronts. The aim of this study is to explore the basic demographic features and characteristics of users of homeopathy services. The setting is a student teaching tele-health facility based in NA. Concurrent intake forms from 303 participants were analyzed. Intake forms were entered into a coding frame instrument designed and developed to explore health care information. A majority of participants (70%) who attend this clinic are female. The average age is 31 years old. Almost half of the participants in this clinic were using other additional complementary therapies in the management of their conditions. Almost the same number of participants (134) were only using homeopathy. The majority had some prior use of homeopathic products (91.6%), but 52.8% of participants had never worked with a professional homeopath. Twenty-four conditions are listed by participants as chief health complaints. Findings are in alignment with what is already known about the uptake in complementary medicine. Findings also reveal that the users of Homeopathy are seeking an ‘alternative’ to conventional medicine rather than only using Homeopathy as ‘complementary’ medicine. A proportion of participants in this clinical setting find homeopathy through over-the-counter sales and are, for a period, self-prescribing in chronic conditions. Further comparative research is needed to compare this to other complementary medicine avenues as well as conventional medicine settings. Conclusion: This in-depth empirical study of the users of homeopathy at one clinical facility represents initial, novel measured preliminary insights into the participants features and characteristics.
SN  - 2573-4393
UR  - https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.icm.2404069
DO  - 10.21926/obm.icm.2404069
ID  - Gray2024
ER  -