The Scope of Naturopathic Medicine in Canada : An Emerging Profession  

Oleh:

Verhoef, Marja J. ; Boon, Heather S. ; Mutasingwa, Donatus R.

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Social Science & Medicine (www.elsevier.com/locate/sosscimed) vol. 63 no. 2 (Jul. 2006), page 409-417.
Topik: MEDICINE; naturopathic medicine; professionalization; canada; scope of practice

Ketersediaan

Perpustakaan Pusat (Semanggi) Nomor Panggil: SS53.5 Non-tandon: 1 (dapat dipinjam: 0) Tandon: tidak ada

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In Canada, naturopathic medicine is an emerging profession that is gaining fromal recognition, including provincial / territuorial regulation. While naturopathic medicine has undergone significant growth and legitimization, it still faces substantial challenges to acceptance as a full fledged health care prodession within the canadian health care system. For example, professionalization theories indicate the importance of clear professional boundaries as well as the need for new groups to find a place in the system of professions. This has been problematic for naturpathic practitioners who continue to practice within a broad scope of practice that encompasses many different therapeutic modalities. Development of statutory regulation also requires delineation of a specific, well defined scope of practice. The purpose of this study was to describe naturopathic practitioners' perception of their training and their current scope of practice. Two thirds ( n = 315) of all licensed canadian naturopathic practitioners responded to the survey. The results showed that naturopathic practitioners are trained in, and practice a wide range of therapeutic modalities. Develpment of statutory regulation also requires delineation of a specific, well defined scope of practice. The purpose of this study was to describe naturopathic practitioners' perception of their training and their current scope of practice. Two thirds (n = 315) of all licensed canadian naturopathic practitioners responded to the survey. The results showed that naturopathic practitioners are trained in, and practice a wide range of therapeutic modalities and diagnostic procedures. Practitioners disagreed about their scope of practice, as 57% thought it was too restricitve, 31% felt it was about right and 13% thought it was too broad. A large majority felt there was some or a great deal of overlap with other practitioners' scope of practice. We conclude that multiple challenges are facing naturopathic medicine, including scope of practice, overlap with other professions, social closure, scarcity of vacancies and lack of cohesion. The future of naturopathic medicine will depend on how effectively the profession will use available strategies to overcome barriers to statutory self regulation.

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