{"title":"Patient Experiences of Integrative health CarE [PEICE]: A cross-sectional study","authors":"Matthew J Leach , Simon DuBois , Reine DuBois","doi":"10.1016/j.imr.2025.101147","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Although consumer demand and practitioner interest in integrative health care (IHC) have amplified over the past few decades, the patient experience of IHC still remains poorly understood. This study aimed to explore patient’s experiences of receiving care within an IHC setting in Australia.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Adults that had accessed an IHC setting within the past 12 months were invited to participate in a national, cross-sectional study. Individuals meeting the inclusion criteria were asked to complete the 57-item Integrative Healthcare Experience Tool (iHEET), online.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>A total of 327 participants completed the iHEET (82.3 % female; 92.9 % aged 30 years or older). Participants reported a generally favourable experience of IHC, as indicated by an overall IHC experience score of 4.19 ± 0.90 (mean ± SD). Mean experience subscores were high for 8 of the 12 IHC experience domains (i.e. respectful, personalised, patient-centred, holistic, interdisciplinary, evidence-based, communicative, wellness-focussed), and moderate for 4 of the 12 domains (i.e. non-hierarchical, collaborative, coordinated, accessible).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The findings of this novel study suggest IHC practice in Australia closely aligns with the philosophy and framework of IHC, and is mostly congruent with what patients want from an IHC service. Notwithstanding, there are several areas where IHC services could improve in order to optimise the patient experience. These areas include providing care that is more visibly collaborative and coordinated, and enabling equitable access to services for diverse patient populations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13644,"journal":{"name":"Integrative Medicine Research","volume":"14 2","pages":"Article 101147"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Integrative Medicine Research","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213422025000277","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background
Although consumer demand and practitioner interest in integrative health care (IHC) have amplified over the past few decades, the patient experience of IHC still remains poorly understood. This study aimed to explore patient’s experiences of receiving care within an IHC setting in Australia.
Methods
Adults that had accessed an IHC setting within the past 12 months were invited to participate in a national, cross-sectional study. Individuals meeting the inclusion criteria were asked to complete the 57-item Integrative Healthcare Experience Tool (iHEET), online.
Results
A total of 327 participants completed the iHEET (82.3 % female; 92.9 % aged 30 years or older). Participants reported a generally favourable experience of IHC, as indicated by an overall IHC experience score of 4.19 ± 0.90 (mean ± SD). Mean experience subscores were high for 8 of the 12 IHC experience domains (i.e. respectful, personalised, patient-centred, holistic, interdisciplinary, evidence-based, communicative, wellness-focussed), and moderate for 4 of the 12 domains (i.e. non-hierarchical, collaborative, coordinated, accessible).
Conclusion
The findings of this novel study suggest IHC practice in Australia closely aligns with the philosophy and framework of IHC, and is mostly congruent with what patients want from an IHC service. Notwithstanding, there are several areas where IHC services could improve in order to optimise the patient experience. These areas include providing care that is more visibly collaborative and coordinated, and enabling equitable access to services for diverse patient populations.
期刊介绍:
Integrative Medicine Research (IMR) is a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal focused on scientific research for integrative medicine including traditional medicine (emphasis on acupuncture and herbal medicine), complementary and alternative medicine, and systems medicine. The journal includes papers on basic research, clinical research, methodology, theory, computational analysis and modelling, topical reviews, medical history, education and policy based on physiology, pathology, diagnosis and the systems approach in the field of integrative medicine.