Complementary and alternative medicine: the next generation of health promotion?

This paper reports on a research study into the professional interface between health promotion and complementary and alternative medicine. The study was conducted in the UK, the USA and, to a lesser extent, Eastern Europe. Professionals from both sides of the interface were interviewed. The findings suggest that health promoters committed to individual empowerment and community action are the most likely to support some form of involvement with complementary and alternative medicine, while the least likely are those committed to structural changes through a public health agenda. The paper identifies the potential for closer integration but also reports on substantial barriers to collaboration between these two professional groups.