The role and influence of women in the workforce and practice of complementary and integrative medicine: Contemporary trends and future prospects

This chapter examines the role and significance of women across the Complementary and Integrative Medicine (CIM) workforce and practice. It explores the contemporary environment relating to CIM in high-income countries that may help facilitate or challenge what some scholars and commentators have interpreted as a 'feminist' CIM approach to health care. It has long been acknowledged that the biomedical model of health and conventional structures of health care delivery explicitly or implicitly help maintain paternalistic power dimensions. Research suggests the circumstances also apply to CIM use with women not only identified as predominant users of CIM but also as significant agents of influence upon the CIM use of others family members, friends and wider networks alike. Moving attention beyond informal care and carer roles, research has also suggested gender dimensions to CIM practice. As identified in the brief overview provided in the chapter, the influence and role of women with regards to CIM provision/workforce, practice and consumption are considerable.