Health literacy in complementary and alternative medicine

Jatau, Abubakar Ibrahim and Sha'aban, Abubakar ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5491-9851 2025. Health literacy in complementary and alternative medicine. Health Literacy in Medicines Use and Pharmacy: A Definitive Guide, Elsevier (Academic Press), pp. 225-236. (10.1016/B978-0-12-824407-4.00024-6)

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Abstract

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is gaining popularity worldwide. Although CAM therapies are perceived to be safe, evidence has shown that their use is associated with adverse events such as drug–drug interactions, toxicities, abuse and misuse, and medication non-adherence. Health literacy in CAM, also known as “CAM health literacy,” focuses mainly on improving the safe use of CAM through understanding the dose, effect, safety, and availability. Thus, individuals with poor CAM health literacy are more likely to encounter adverse events related to its use, leading to poor health outcomes. In addition, these adverse events may be aggravated by a lack of disclosure by the users, insufficient knowledge about CAM among healthcare professionals, a lack of investigations on CAM use in clinical settings, and inadequate CAM research. While a few evidence-based interventions have been implemented among specific populations, more strategies are needed to improve CAM health literacy to reduce the increasing rate of health and medication-related adverse events from CAM therapies. This chapter aimed to discuss: (i) health and medication-related issues encountered in individuals who use CAM due to poor health literacy and; (ii) evidence-based interventions for improving health/medication literacy among CAM users.

Item Type:	Book Section
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Medicine
Publisher:	Elsevier (Academic Press)
ISBN:	9780128244074
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	8 April 2025
Date of Acceptance:	20 March 2023
Last Modified:	10 Apr 2025 09:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/177491

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