NATIONAL CENTER FOR COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
From the Director
I extend my best wishes for 2009 to all readers of NCCAM's newsletter, a newly refocused and redesigned publication. This is an important year for NCCAM. Not only are we celebrating the Center's 10th anniversary, we are also embarking on our next phase of strategic planning. In that context, I would like to offer a few thoughts and invite your participation.
Recently, we saw the release of findings from the latest National Health Interview Survey on complementary and alternative medicine, discussed in Survey Sheds New Light on Adults'—and Children's—Use of CAM. They continue to show that a large number of Americans are using CAM for purposes of health and wellness. It is also clear that there is an enormous public desire for information about CAM. As I scan news on the Internet, open the newspaper, or turn on the TV or radio, I am struck by how often CAM topics are in the news. If you are a health care provider, you almost certainly hear about CAM from your patients. The high levels of interest in and use of CAM underscore the importance of NCCAM's mission to support rigorous research, build CAM research capacity, and share authoritative, evidence-based information.
Since I was appointed NCCAM's Director last year, I have engaged in a "listening tour." This has given me the opportunity to meet and learn from an enormously diverse group of practitioners, scientists, and members of the public. The insights gained from those meetings are helping to craft the Center's research priorities and inform our next strategic plan for the coming years.
As in previous strategic planning processes, we invite suggestions and comments from all of our stakeholders. We want to hear your thoughts and ideas in terms of future directions for research, training, and information dissemination.
I look forward to meeting and hearing from more of you in the course of this special year for NCCAM.
Josephine P. Briggs, M.D.
Director
