Nearly eight in ten Canadians have used alternative medicines: survey – Canada Free Press

Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Use and Public Attitudes, 1997, 2006 and 2016

VANCOUVERMore and more Canadians are using complementary and alternative medicines and therapiessuch as massage, yoga, acupuncture and chiropractic careand theyre using them more frequently, finds a new survey by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

Alternative treatments are playing an increasingly important role in Canadians overall health care, and understanding how all the parts of the health-care system fit together is vital if policymakers are going to find ways to improve it, said Nadeem Esmail, Fraser Institute senior fellow and co-author of Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Use and Public Attitudes, 1997, 2006 and 2016.

The updated survey of 2,000 Canadians finds more than three-quarters of Canadians79 per centhave used at least one complementary or alternative medicine (CAM) or therapy sometime in their lives. Thats an increase from 74 per cent in 2006 and 73 per cent in 1997, when two previous similar surveys were conducted.

In fact, more than one in two Canadians (56 per cent) used at least one complementary or alternative medicine or therapy in the previous 12 months, an increase from 54 per cent in 2006 and 50 per cent in 1997.

And Canadians are using those services more often, averaging 11.1 visits in 2016, compared to fewer than nine visits a year in both 2006 and 1997.

The most popular complementary and alternative treatments used by Canadians in 2016 were massage (44 per cent), followed by chiropractic care (42 per cent), yoga (27 per cent), relaxation techniques (25 per cent) and acupuncture (22 per cent.)

In total, Canadians spent $8.8 billion on complementary and alternative medicines and therapies last year, up from $8 billion (inflation adjusted) in 2006.

Interestingly, the survey finds a majority of respondents58 per centsupport paying for alternative treatments privately and dont want them included in provincial health plans. Support for private payment is highest (at 69 per cent) among 35- to 44-year-olds.

Complementary and alternative therapies play an increasingly important role in Canadians overall health care, but policy makers should not see this as an invitation to expand government coveragethe majority of Canadians believe alternative therapies should be paid for privately, Esmail said.

MEDIA CONTACT: Bryn Weese, Media Relations Specialist, Fraser Institute, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of 86 think-tanks. Its mission is to measure, study, and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government intervention on the welfare of individuals. To protect the Institutes independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit fraserinstitute.org.

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Nearly eight in ten Canadians have used alternative medicines: survey - Canada Free Press