Integrative medicine

Integrative medicine describes a medical direction "that reaffirms the importance of the practitioner-patient relationship. It focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches, health care professionals, and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing" as articulated by the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine in 2004.

Integrative medicine makes use of approaches from conventional and complementary medicine. The concept came up in the US in the late 1940s. In the german sphere it was used from 1990.

Compared to the concepts alternative medicine and complementary medicine it focuses on integration with conventional medicine. The wording alternative medicine describes approaches used instead of conventional medicine. Complementary medicine pictures a complementarity of approaches. Integrative medicine uses scientific methods to evaluate complementary and alternative medical (CAM) therapies and is open to a dialog with concepts from non-conventional systems.

The position of a medical pluralism is common in integrative medicine. This takes into account a dialogue of different paradigms. Central is the effort for scientificity and research with openness of the concept of science.

History of the concept

In polarity to alternative medicine, which emphasizes separation, the term integrative medicine denotes exchange and collaboration of complementary (complementary) partners. The term integrative medicine was applied in the late 1940s in Anglo-American literature and propagated since the 1990s by, among others, Andrew Weil. In the German-speaking world, the term came into use only from the 1990s. The emphases and interpretations of the still relatively young term changed over the years and are weighted partly differently by different representatives even today. Below are some descriptions and definitions.

In the 2000s, the focus was on a combination of elements of conventional medicine with scientifically evaluated elements of complementary and alternative medicine (see definition NCCAM). Through the years the concept broadened to include aspects like the relationship between patient and doctor, a network of caretaking persons and in 2020 a democratic environment and a healthy natural environment, bringing the concept close to that of One health and impulses arising in mainstream medicine.

Criticism of the concept

There is also criticism of the term, which, apart from its salutogenetic orientation, contains no conceptual innovation over that of complementary medicine.

Definitions

Definitions of Integrative Medicine

Source	Year	Definition	Authors
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)	2000 (ca)	Integrative medicine combines mainstream medical therapies and CAM therapies for which there is some high-quality scientific evidence of safety and effectiveness.
NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms		A type of medical care that combines conventional (standard) medical treatment with complementary and alternative (CAM) therapies that have been shown to be safe and to work. CAM therapies treat the mind, body, and spirit.
Mayo Clinic		Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is the popular name for health care practices that traditionally have not been part of conventional medicine. In many cases, as evidence of efficacy and safety grows, these therapies are being combined with conventional medicine. Thus, the term alternative has been dropped and replaced with newer terms, such as complementary and integrative medicine, integrative medicine and health, or just integrative medicine.
British Medical Journal (BMJ) Editorial	2001	Integrated medicine (or integrative medicine as it is referred to in the United States) is practising medicine in a way that selectively incorporates elements of complementary and alternative medicine into comprehensive treatment plans alongside solidly orthodox methods of diagnosis and treatment.	Lesley Rees, Andrew Weil
Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine & Health		The practice of medicine that reaffirms the importance of the practitioner-patient relationship. It focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches, health care professionals, and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing.
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)		There are many definitions of “integrative” health care, but all involve bringing conventional and complementary approaches together in a coordinated way. ... NCCIH generally uses the term “complementary health approaches” when we discuss practices and products of non-mainstream origin. We use “integrative health” when we talk about incorporating complementary approaches into mainstream health care.
World health organization (WHO)		Traditional, complementary and integrative medicine - Definitions Traditional medicine - Traditional medicine has a long history. It is the sum total of the knowledge, skill, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness. Complementary medicine - The terms “complementary medicine” or “alternative medicine” refer to a broad set of health care practices that are not part of that country’s own tradition or conventional medicine and are not fully integrated into the dominant health-care system. They are used interchangeably with traditional medicine in some countries. Herbal medicines - Herbal medicines include herbs, herbal materials, herbal preparations and finished herbal products, that contain as active ingredients parts of plants, or other plant materials, or combinations.
Brinkhaus B and Esch T, adapted Version of the US consortium IM	2020	Integrative medicine and Health reaffirms the importance of the relationship between practitioner and patient, focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic, preventive, health-promoting, and lifestyle approaches, healthcare professionals and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing, emphasizing the art and science of healing. It is based on a social and democratic as well as natural and healthy environment.	Brinkhaus B, Esch T

Geographical distribution

USA

In USA the integrative medical movement is represented by organizations like the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine & Health and in the national institutes of health there is a department for integrative medicine called National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH).