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Complementary and alternative therapies: what are our responsibilities?

Throughout history, people faced with complex health conditions that defy simple solutions have pursued unconventional therapies or cures. These are often referred to collectively as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) (https:// www.britannica.com/science/complementary-and-alternativemedicine), and are considered to be therapies that lie outside the scope of traditional Western medicine. They may include herbal, spiritual, biomedical, surgical, and physical therapies. The field of childhood disability experiences a wide and continually changing variety of CAM. What these therapies usually have in common is some combination of: (1) claims of effectiveness that rely on anecdotes or methodologically unsound ‘research’; (2) explanatory foundations based on questionable biomedical premises; (3) costs borne by the users (not funded by public or insurance schemes); (4) an implication that their effectiveness is related to intensity of treatment (such that treatment ‘failure’ may be the fault of the users); and (5) often, creation of false hope and lost opportunities to pursue other activities. As evidence-informed health professionals, what are our responsibilities when asked to consider CAM? The answers may depend on both the question and the questioner. Consider, for example, possible responses to the following scenarios.