Traditional medicine and complementary or alternative medicine (TM/CAM) are
in wide use. Communication between patients and their primary
care clinicians can be important in avoiding drug interactions and in reaching
agreement about treatment plans.
Patients' perceptions of clinician receptivity proves to be a strong factor in
the decision to communicate fully, while perceived expertise was unimportant.
Please see the March/April 2009 issue of Annals of Family Medicine (AFM) , titled ‘They Don’t Ask Me So I Don’t Tell Them’: Patient-Clinician Communication About Traditional, Complementary, and Alternative Medicine (PDF download)
“
“When my little boy was born, I used to give him herbs for his stomach aches. And I used to come in for his well-child check-up and I wouldn’t tell [the doctor] because…I’d be like, “she’ll get madder.” So I don’t tell them hat I use herbs on the kids.”