Information for researchers

Evidence-based practice and decision-making

Evidence-based decision-making (EBDM) has emerged as a new trend in the field of medicine during the early nineties, and has enjoyed increasing attention in the wake of recent health reforms. EBDM is the systematic application of the best evidence for making decisions in clinical, management and policy settings.

Evidence-based practice and decision-making is gaining more importance in the area of CAM, and has led to a renewed interest of CAM practitioners in undertaking research.

How can research help to improve your practice?

There are several ways in which CAM practitioners can benefit from research:

• You may wish to utilize research results from the literature to make decisions and improve your own practice. This requires a basic understanding of the research process in order to understand and evaluate published studies.
• You may wish to evaluate your own practice in order to make decisions about your treatment approaches and improve your patient services. This is called an "audit" and is a great way to get started in research that will have a direct benefit for you and your clients.
• You may be interested in answering more general questions about the effectiveness of a CAM intervention (e.g., Does mindful meditation after myocardial infarction lead to a greater improvement in quality of life than usual counseling?) or about the use of CAM modalities (e.g., What percentage of breast cancer patients is using CAM modalities? What are the perceived benefits of using CAM as adjunct for breast cancer treatment?). This requires undertaking your own, original research.

Getting started in CAM research

Undertaking research may be a challenging endeavor and requires a systematic approach. First and foremost, you need to be absolutely clear on defining/outlining your research question.

• What is your question?
  Many aspects of the research project depend on the type of questions asked - different questions require a different study design. The challenge for most researchers and practitioners is framing a simple question that truly captures their interest.
• Ask one question at a time.
  You will not be able to answer the question "Does chiropractic work?" by one single research study. Break down large, global questions into manageable pieces; a series of questions each associated with a single study will be easier to deal with than one complex, multilevel question.
• Be as specific as possible.
  In order to make your question more manageable, try to define specifically what the intervention is, the target population, what the outcomes are and to what the effects will be compared. The same question could be rephrased as "What are the effects of chiropractic treatment (intervention) compared to physiotherapy (comparison) on pain scores (outcomes) in patients with chronic neck pain?" This process will help you to focus your question, which in turn will make it more manageable.

Useful Links

International Society for Complementary Medicine Research
The International Society for Complementary Medicine Research is an international scientific organization of researchers, practitioners and policy makers that fosters Complementary and Integrative Medicine research and provides a platform for knowledge and information exchange to enhance international communication and collaboration.

The Canadian Interdisciplinary Network for CAM Research
The Canadian Interdisciplinary Network for CAM Research (IN-CAM) was officially launched in January 2004. This unique Canadian initiative was founded by two of Canada’s leading CAM researchers, Dr Heather Boon and Dr. Marja Verhoef. They believed that a coordinated, interdisciplinary, collaborative effort was needed to address the many gaps that exist in CAM research. They expected that a research network would provide the opportunity to foster dialogue and communication among CAM researchers, to pool resources, create and transfer CAM knowledge and awareness, and build research capacity.

6th Annual IN-CAM Research Symposium, November 19 - 21, 2010
Complementary and Integrative Health Care: Methodological, Theoretical and Practical Issues
The Symposium is an excellent opportunity for CAM researchers and health care professionals from Canada and internationally to share, discuss, and critically debate their research findings. Past IN-CAM Research Symposia have been described as excellent networking opportunities, where new project ideas have evolved, research teams have formed, and graduate students have met their future supervisors. 

Alternative and Integrative Medical Society (AIMS)
AIMS is a non-profit organization constituted under the BC Society Act. Originally constituted in March 1998 as a student group at UBC, AIMS has since expanded with a goal of providing quality resources in the field of integrative medicine to students, professionals and members of the community

International Congress on Complementary Medicine Research
The 5th International Congress on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research was  held on May 19-21, 2010 in Tromsø, Norway. The theme of ICCMR 2010 was: "Relevant research for the chronically ill" because it emphasizes the importance of appropriate research for the group of patients who seek CAM treatments for long-standing conditions. It will showcase relevant research on complementary medicine for the chronically ill, through keynote and plenary sessions, a public lecture, oral and poster presentations. The main topic areas to be covered are:
• Research on use of and experience with CAM, TM and IM
• Trial research at the system level (pragmatic trials)
• Trial research on efficacy of CAM treatment components
• Health services, outcomes, evaluation
• Research on mechanisms of CAM effects
• Research on methodology

International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements
The International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements (IBIDS) database provides access to bibliographic citations and abstracts from published, international, and scientific literature on dietary supplements.

The Canadian Institute of Natural and Integrative Medicine (CINIM)
CINIM was developed in response to public demand for information about alternative therapies and access to these therapies. CINIM aims to become a world-class research centre in the area of complementary/alternative medicine. Development of a research network that includes both alternative medicine research experts and alternative medicine practitioners will facilitate the rapid production of research outcomes. As a unique research centre indirectly associated with a clinical practice, CINIM provides the ideal setting for initiating and overseeing CAM studies.

Integrative Health Institute at Mount Royal | Phone: 403.440.8809