Attitudes of Future Healthcare Professionals on the Effectiveness of Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Metode komplementarne i alternativne medicine (KAM) široko su rasprostranjene diljem svijeta, a u novije vrijeme raste njihova upotreba i na području Republike Hrvatske. Ovim pilot istraživanjem željelo se utvrditi stavove i uvjerenja budućih zdravstvenih radnika o pojedinim metodama komplementarne i alternativne medicine i njihovoj učinkovitosti. U tu svrhu korišten je ranije dizajniran originalni upitnik koji je primijenjen na malom uzorku. Rad je napravljen i za potrebe izrade diplomskog rada autorice s namjerom proširenja istraživanja na višoj razini školovanja koja je u tijeku. Od ukupnog broja ispitanika veliki postotak njih je barem jednom upotrijebio neku od metoda te isto tako većina ispitanika smatra kako bi se metode KAM-a trebale integrirati u obrazovni sustav, kao i s klasičnom medicinom. Kao najučinkovitije metode ispitanicu su naveli akupunkturu, kiropraktiku te razne masažne tehnike.Methods of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are widespread throughout the world, and recently their use is growing in the Republic of Croatia. This pilot research aims to determine the attitudes and beliefs of future health professionals about the certain methods of complementary and alternative medicine and their effectiveness. For this purpose, an original questionnaire previously designed was used on a small sample. The paper was also made for the purpose of writing the author’s diploma thesis with the intention of expanding the research at the higher level of education that is underway. Of the total number of respondents, a large percentage of them have used one of the methods at least once, and most respondents also believe that KAM methods should be integrated into the education system, as well as with classical medicine. They mentioned acupuncture, chiropractic and various massage techniques as the most effective methods