Liem, A. “I’ve Only Just Heard About It”: Complementary and Alternative Medicine Knowledge and Educational Needs of Clinical Psychologists in Indonesia. Medicina2019, 55, 333.
Liem, A. “I’ve Only Just Heard About It”: Complementary and Alternative Medicine Knowledge and Educational Needs of Clinical Psychologists in Indonesia. Medicina 2019, 55, 333.
Liem, A. “I’ve Only Just Heard About It”: Complementary and Alternative Medicine Knowledge and Educational Needs of Clinical Psychologists in Indonesia. Medicina2019, 55, 333.
Liem, A. “I’ve Only Just Heard About It”: Complementary and Alternative Medicine Knowledge and Educational Needs of Clinical Psychologists in Indonesia. Medicina 2019, 55, 333.
Abstract
Background and objectives: The inadequate knowledge of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among health professionals may put their clients in risky situation because they then would find information about CAM from unreliable sources. Clinical psychologists (CPs), as health professionals, have also the opportunity to provide psychoeducation on the latest CAM scientific research to their clients. The current study aimed to explore knowledge and educational needs of CAM among CPs in Indonesia because previous studies on exploring CAM knowledge and educational needs of CAM were primarily conducted in Western countries. Materials and Methods: Data were collected through semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 43 CPs in public health centers (PHCs) in Indonesia. Most interviews were held at the PHCs where participants worked and interviews lasted for 55 minutes, on average. The interview recordings were transcribed and were analyzed using deductive thematic analysis. Results: Five main themes emerged within participants’ responses regarding CAM knowledge and educational needs. First (CAM understanding), participants’ responses ranged from those with little or no prior knowledge of CAM treatments and uses, to those with much greater familiarity. Second (source of knowledge), participants’ access ranged widely in terms of references, from popular to scientific literature. Third (why is it important?), participants identified CAM essentially as part of Indonesian culture and it was therefore crucial to have this cultural knowledge. Fourth (the challenges and what is needed?), the challenges for improving participants’ knowledge came from personal and institutional levels. Fifth (what and how to learn?), participants advised that only CAM treatments that fit in brief psychotherapy sessions should be introduced in professional training. Conclusions: This qualitative study discovered that CAM was neither well-known nor understood widely. Participants advised that professional associations and health institutions should work together in enhancing knowledge of CAM and incorporating CAM education into psychology education.
Keywords
complementary and alternative medicine; integrative medicine; knowledge; training and education; psychology; mental health; qualitative
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Psychiatry and Mental Health
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
