Conventional and Complementary Medicine: Skills for the Health Care Consumer Chapter 21

© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.2 Self-Care: Managing Medical Problems  Self Assessment  Decision Making: Knowing When to See a Physician Severe Unusual Persistent Recurrent  Emergencies: Major trauma or injury Uncontrollable bleeding Severe shortness of breath Persistent abdominal pain Poisoning or drug overdose Loss of consciousness Stupor, drowsiness, or disorientation Severe or worsening reaction to an insect bite or sting

Chapter 21© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.3 Self-Treatment: Many Options  Watchful waiting  Nondrug options  Self-medication 1. Read labels 2. Do not exceed the recommendation 3. Use caution 4. Select medications with one ingredient 5. Try to buy genetic 6. Never take a drug from an unlabeled container 7. Pregnant and nursing 8. Expiration date 9. Storage of medication 10. Special caution with aspirin

Chapter 21© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.4

Chapter 21© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.5 Professional Medical and Health Care: Choices and Change  Seeking professional medical care Hospital emergency room Scheduling an appointment with a physician Accessing some other part of the American medical and health care system

Chapter 21© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.6

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Chapter 21© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.8 Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)  Defined as those therapies or practices that do not form part of conventional, or “mainstream” health care and medical practice taught in the U.S.

Chapter 21© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.9 Conventional Medicine  “Standard Western Medicine”  “Bio-medicine” Based on the findings of a variety of biological sciences.

Chapter 21© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.10 The Rise of Complementary Medicine in the United States  A system of diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease.  Conventional medicine or Western Medicine – the absence of disease.  Traditional medicine or complementary and alternative medicine.

Chapter 21© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.11 Premises and Assumptions of Conventional Medicine  Hippocrates  Every disease is defined by a certain pathology and set of symptoms and the symptoms are similar in most patients suffering from that disease.  Pharmaceuticals  Scientific explanation Empirical Rational Testable Parsimonious General Tentative

Chapter 21© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.12 The Providers of Conventional Medicine  Medical Doctors (M.D.)  Doctors of osteopathic medicine (D.O.)  Podiatrists (D.P.M.)  Optometrists (O.D.)  Dentists (D.D.S.) or (D.M.D.)  Allied health care providers (Millions of other trained health care professionals, know as allied health care providers Registered nurses (R.N.) Licensed vocational nurses (L.V.N.s) Occupational therapist (O.T.s) Physical therapists (P.T.) Licensed certified Athletic Trainers (L.A.T.C.s) Social workers Registered dietitians (R.D.s) Physician assistants (P.A.s) Nurse practitioners Certified nurse midwives

Chapter 21© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.13 Choosing a Primary Care Physician  Coordinator of your medical care.  Information about your Primary care doctor.  Personal feelings after meeting your chosen primary care physician.  Choosing a Medical Facility.

Chapter 21© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.14 Getting the Most Out of Your Medical Care  The Physician-Patient partnership  Your appointment with your physician  The diagnostic process

Chapter 21© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.15 Medical and Surgical Treatments  Prescription medications Medication errors Off-label drug use Online pharmacies Costs The appropriate questions to ask while seeking treatment.  Surgery Key questions to ask before surgery

Chapter 21© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.16 Complementary and Alternative Medicine  Alternative medical system.  Traditional Chinese medicine or Traditional Oriental medicine (TCM). Acupuncture  Homeopathy  Mind-Body interventions Hypnosis  Biological-based therapies Herbal therapies

Chapter 21© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.17 Complementary and Alternative Medicine  Manipulative and Body-Based Methods. Chiropractic Touch and body manipulation Osteopathic Massage acupressure Feldenkrais Rolfing  Energy Therapies Qigong Therapeutic touch Bioelectromagnetics Reiki

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Chapter 21© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.19 Evaluating Complementary and Alternative Medicine  Working with Your Physician. Safety Effectiveness Timing Cost  Questioning the CAM practitioner.  Doing your own research.  Why do consumers use complementary medicine?

Chapter 21© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.20 Paying For Health Care  The Current System  Health insurance  Traditional Fee-for-Service (Indemnity) plans  Managed Care plans Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) Preferred provider organizations (PPOs) Point-of-service (POS)

Chapter 21© 2008 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.21 Health Savings Accounts  HSAs became available in 2004  Two parts 1. Health plan with a high deductible 2. Tax-exempt personal savings account Government programs Medicare Medicaid Choosing a policy

Health Care: Conventional and Complementary Medicine Chapter 21