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The role of evidence in alternative medicine: Contrasting biomedical and anthropological approaches

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  • Barry, Christine Ann

Abstract

The growth of alternative medicine and its insurgence into the realms of the biomedical system raises a number of questions about the nature of evidence. Calls for 'gold standard' randomised controlled trial evidence, by both biomedical and political establishments, to legitimise the integration of alternative medicine into healthcare systems, can be interpreted as deeply political. In this paper, the supposed objectivity of scientific, biomedical forms of evidence is questioned through an illumination of the multiple rhetorics embedded in the evidence-based medicine phenomenon, both within biomedicine itself and in calls for its use to evaluate alternative therapeutic systems. Anthropological notions of evidence are constructed very differently from those of biomedical science, and offer a closer resonance with the philosophy of alternative medicine. Examples are given of the kinds of evidence produced by anthropologists researching alternative medicine. Ethnographic evidence of 'what works' in alternative medicine includes concepts such as transcendent, transformational experiences; changing lived-body experience; and the gaining of meaning. It is proposed that the promotion of differently constructed modes of evidence can be used to legitimise alternative medicine by widening the definition of what works in therapy, and offering a critique of what people feel is lacking from much of orthodox medical care.

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  • Barry, Christine Ann, 2006. "The role of evidence in alternative medicine: Contrasting biomedical and anthropological approaches," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(11), pages 2646-2657, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:62:y:2006:i:11:p:2646-2657
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lohr, Kathleen N. & Eleazer, Kristen & Mauskopf, Josephine, 1998. "Health policy issues and applications for evidence-based medicine and clinical practice guidelines," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 1-19, October.
    2. Quah, Stella R., 2003. "Traditional healing systems and the ethos of science," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(10), pages 1997-2012, November.
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    1. Deml, Michael J. & Notter, Julia & Kliem, Paulina & Buhl, Andrea & Huber, Benedikt M. & Pfeiffer, Constanze & Burton-Jeangros, Claudine & Tarr, Philip E., 2019. "“We treat humans, not herds!”: A qualitative study of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) providers’ individualized approaches to vaccination in Switzerland," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    2. Pedersen, Inge Kryger, 2013. "‘It can do no harm’: Body maintenance and modification in alternative medicine acknowledged as a non risk health regimen," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 56-62.
    3. Andrews, Gavin J. & Evans, Joshua & McAlister, Seraphina, 2013. "‘Creating the right therapy vibe’: Relational performances in holistic medicine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 99-109.
    4. Chung, Vincent C.H. & Hillier, Sheila & Lau, Chun Hong & Wong, Samuel Y.S. & Yeoh, Eng Kiong & Griffiths, Sian M., 2011. "Referral to and attitude towards traditional Chinese medicine amongst western medical doctors in postcolonial Hong Kong," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 247-255, January.
    5. Kelner, Merrijoy & Wellman, Beverly & Welsh, Sandy & Boon, Heather, 2006. "How far can complementary and alternative medicine go? The case of chiropractic and homeopathy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(10), pages 2617-2627, November.
    6. Scott, Clare & Walker, Jan & White, Peter & Lewith, George, 2011. "Forging convictions: The effects of active participation in a clinical trial," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(12), pages 2041-2048, June.

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