Executive Summary: Investing in Research [NCCAM 2005 Strategic Plan]

Investing in Research

Identify the common and specific features of widely used mind-body medicine practices.
Discover means of enhancing and accelerating the healing process beyond the effects provided by conventional medicine.
Explore the value of cam therapies to reduce the burden of stress-related chronic illnesses.
Explore the ability of cam therapies to enhance resilience, positive affect, and coping in order to improve health and well-being, prevent or slow disease progression, and treat diseases and disorders and their symptoms.

Verify and define the composition of botanicals.
Determine the mechanisms underlying the biological actions of selected cam products and diets.
Determine the pharmaceutical and pharmacokinetic properties of selected cam products.
Ensure the safety of selected cam products and practices.
Establish the efficacy of selected biologically based practices to maintain health, prevent disease, and treat conditions of public health importance.

Elucidate mechanisms of action operative in manipulative and body-based practices
Determine the disorders and states of wellness for which selected manipulative and body-based practices may offer meaningful benefits and specify the optimal circumstances under which the chosen manipulative and body-based practices are performed
Study manipulative and body-based practices to determine their potential therapeutic or wellness benefits
Determine the extent to which patient expectations prior to treatment and satisfaction following manipulative and body-based practices are related to objectively measured biological endpoints

Apply in studies of energy medicine the same standards used in designing experiments in physics, chemistry, and other scientific disciplines.
Accelerate progress in understanding the source and biological effects of putative energy fields.
Enhance understanding of what transpires in the course of energy healer-patient interactions.

Acquire a richer understanding of cam whole medical systems and how they operate within their indigenous and dispersed settings.
Document the benefits of some cam whole medical system treatments for selected health conditions.
Elucidate mechanisms underlying successful multimodal treatments used in cam whole medical systems.

Advance understanding of traditional/indigenous medical systems through international collaborative studies
Contribute to the preservation of irreplaceable and valuable traditional/ indigenous cam knowledge and resources
Enhance understanding of how safe and effective cam interventions are integrated with non-cam interventions abroad and in the United States.

Determine how cam services affect the health care marketplace.
Enhance the design of cam clinical studies and trials by adding instruments to collect health services research data
Explore models of organized health care delivery that integrate cam with conventional care.

Enhance understanding of the social, cultural, and economic factors relating to the use of cam.
Describe the framework needed to enable the creation of integrated, multidisciplinary research teams.
Encourage the creation of integrated research environments and practice communities.
Define and address ethical and legal issues related to the conduct of cam clinical trials domestically and internationally.