Background
This project involved the appraisal and review of the research evidence on complementary therapies in the NHS priority areas as defined by Government policy prior to the start of the project. These areas were: cancer, mental health, heart disease and stroke, and chronic conditions (arthritis, asthma, chronic back pain, diabetes, multiple sclerosis). The therapies included in the project were acupuncture, Alexander technique, aromatherapy, chiropractic, homeopathy, herbal medicine (specific products), hypnotherapy, massage, meditation, osteopathy, reflexology and yoga.

Aims
• To carry out a detailed review and critical appraisal of the published research on specific complementary therapies
• To make this information available to health care professionals, researchers and the public via the Internet
• To maintain an evidence-based information resource that reflects current research evidence

Project organisation
The main project team consisted of a project director, project manager, two research assistants and an information specialist. An advisory group consisting of representatives from the National Library for Health, Cochrane Collaboration, NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) organisation and a patient organisation provided advice on overall strategy and methods. Clinicians and therapists were recruited to provide condition and therapy specific advice and to comment on the clinical relevance of studies. External experts were consulted on specific aspects of the topics and to provide overall comments on each review.

Methods
The scale and complexity of the project required a range of processes and methods to be developed and tested. The methods used for each of the reviews involved comprehensive searches of electronic databases which were followed by the filtering and categorising of articles according to the study design. Basic methodology of relevant articles was appraised, and commentaries provided by clinical specialists. Reviews were sent for external comment and then either submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals with a summary on the CAMEOL (Complementary and Alternative Medicine Evidence OnLine) database, or published in full on CAMEOL. The later stages of the project required planning for the integration of the methods and outcomes of the work into the newly established National Library for Health (NLH) CAM Specialist Library (www.library.nhs.uk/cam)

Outcomes
This project succeeded in bringing together a wide range of research literature on complementary therapies in chronic and life-threatening illnesses in a short space of time. The main outcome was a new resource, the CAMEOL database, providing access to summaries and full details of the research on each topic including unpublished and ongoing studies, tables of studies incorporating methodological appraisals and clinical comments, and links to relevant evidence. Supplementary outcomes included: a review of currently available electronic sources of CAM information, development of search strategies for a range of CAM therapies, investigations into the contribution of non-English language and qualitative research and into the quality of reporting of CAM interventions in research studies. Furthermore, the project established a framework and system for ensuring that evidence-based knowledge of CAM can be available to both professionals and the public.