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Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a complete medical healthcare system that encompasses acupuncture, acupressure, moxibustion, herbal medicine, diet, tui na massage, and exercises (tai chi and qigong) among other traditional therapies. It uses herbs and natural resources to produce the traditional medicines and focuses on maintaining the balance between body and mind. As such, many aspects of TCM can be considered as green and sustainable. While there is market demand for TCM in some countries and among some communities, some others are still not aware of TCM. Moreover, there are fewer discussions in the academic platforms on TCM. This case highlights the scenario of TCM based on Malaysia’s perspective and discusses its challenges and prospects.

Traditional African Health Systems (TAHS) is one of the earliest systems of health care known to humankind. It remains a sustainable practice in many indigenous cultures and in Africa accounts for the great majority of cures for illnesses despite the advent of Western Medicine. This chapter explores the concept of TAHS and the specialisations that constitute it. It looks at relational and contextual factors in the practitioners of TAHS within the continent that explain its viability. There are resources and knowledge passed on from generation to generation which make African Traditional Medicines a force to be reckoned with.

The authors look at the specific system of health education contained in the health-related adages which foster wisdom with respect to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of ailments. Situating education in its cultural context is one of the factors that has promoted TAHS. The authors compare some of these factors with Western Medicine and outline the benefits of encouraging mutuality rather than the dominance of one over the other. TAHS will definitely be a practice in the future and prospects have to include continued research in the areas of pharmacognosy, medical ethics, responsible health care, and education.

Research is needed that uses large enough samples to facilitate disaggregation of users by specific types of complementary/alternative medical (CAM) practices and by ethnicity in order to examine possible patterns in the use of CAM therapies not accorded efficacy by family physicians. The objective of this study is too use data from a large population health survey to determine the relationship ethnicity, measured with multiple indicators, has with the use of CAM therapies classified as “accepted” or “rejected” by family physicians in terms of efficacy. Using data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) Cycle 1.1, logistic regression models estimate the factors influencing the use of the two binary categories of CAM therapy. Measures of ethnicity available in the CCHS are used to focus on ethnic origin, comparing North American and Foreign born, and on ethnic identification, comparing Whites with Asians, South Asians, Blacks, Latin Americans, Aboriginals, and others. Whites and North American born had higher odds of using “accepted” therapies, whereas immigrant visible minorities and those with Asian ethnic identities were more likely to use “rejected” therapies. This research confirms that ethnicity constitutes a cultural resource upon which users of CAM draw as they make their health-care decisions, sometimes despite the recommendations of family physicians.

This chapter is a comprehensive discussion of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across the globe (e.g., United States, China, Brazil, Japan and Turkey). Topics that are discussed include the following: diagnostic criteria and approaches; international perspectives of ASD; western and eastern assessment practices; cultural considerations of assessment of ASD; educational and medical interventions; behavioral and emotional interventions; complementary and alternative medical interventions; variations in educational services among countries; early intervention practices; adult services; national and international resources; and current needs and future directions.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as a topic of research and as an approach within the health care delivery system has become increasingly accepted. Aided by the holistic movement, and after a century and a half of striving for legitimacy, CAM is also increasingly becoming more accepted by mainstream medicine. This chapter reviews the social sources of disparities in use of CAM, with a greater focus on English-speaking countries, and especially the US. This chapter will briefly highlight the basic underlying principles of CAM as linked to its history and discuss types of CAM. The major focus of this chapter will be a review of the literature on social factors and use of CAM, looking at such factors as age, gender, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity and immigration status, and health status. As part of this, we will also discuss the integration of CAM and conventional care. In conclusion, future directions for social science research in CAM will be discussed, specifically elaborating on the importance of the social sciences linking CAM with other growing interests in health and wellness.

This study examines how collective identities change when the political opportunity structure becomes more favorable to a social movement. Activists within the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) movement in the San Francisco, California Bay area have traditionally competed with physicians by criticizing Western medicine and providing an alternative medical model for consumers. Physicians are increasingly interested in CAM given financial changes within Western medicine, and increased consumer interest and governmental recognition of CAM. Activists in the Bay area are beginning to form networks with physicians to develop an integrative model of medicine, which combines Western and alternative approaches. Consequently, some activists are changing their collective identity now that they are advocating an integrative, rather than alternative, model of medicine. Activists within any social movement do not always agree on goals and strategies, however. The aim of this research is to contrast the collective identity of “alternative” and “integrative” activists, and to show that the latter identity is gaining prominence as political opportunities become available to the movement. This research contributes to the work of contemporary social movement theorists who are examining the relationship between the political opportunity structure and collective identities.

Immigrants’ access to health services is a widely researched topic, yet few studies examine immigrants’ use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). This study uses the Behavioral Model to compare overall CAM use and use of acupuncture, chiropractic, herbs, yoga, and relaxation by immigrant status (nativity and time in the United States). It then explains the nativity gap in use by assessing knowledge, cost, and need as potential reasons for not using these modalities. Results show that controlling for predisposing, enabling, and need factors, recent immigrants use CAM less than the U.S.-born. Lack of knowledge of CAM modalities partially explains why some recent immigrants do not use acupuncture, chiropractic, or relaxation, while established immigrants cite lack of need as a reason for not using yoga. Cost does not explain immigrants’ lower use of these five modalities. Finally, ethnicity moderates the association between immigrant status and reasons for not using CAM.