The RCCM conference for 2022 was held on Monday 5th September, online. We had a great turnout with over 45 people logging in.
RCCM was honoured to open our research conference with newly appointed Professor Felicity Bishop from the University of Southampton. Our research conference incorporated the CAMSTRAND research collective that has been hosted in the past by different universities who had CAM research teams. The day was organised to make the most of virtual conferencing, with workshops, chatrooms and posters, as well oral presentations. At RCCM, we seek to support and nurture the diverse community of researchers and practitioners across the spectrum of complementary and integrative medicine, and the day was a showcase for the many professions that provide evidence-based CAM. Awarding the prizes was a difficult task, as so many excellent presenters were involved. The winners’ work is included in this newsletter.
Prof Bishop’s keynote presentation on the patient-practitioner relationship in complementary medicine highlighted some of the factors that influence potential clients to choose a CAM practitioner, and confidence in skills and training was a key feature. This highlights the role of the professional associations and regulators in maintaining and advancing standards of practice. The RCCM community has many professional associations as corporate members, indicating their commitment to research and evidence-based practice.
Amongst the emerging themes from the day were the use of service evaluations to collect data on CAM practice, enabling low cost evidence-building in many practice settings. Co-chair and trustee Dr John Hughes from the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine has extensive experience in this area and we heard from several speakers who have used this research tool. The use of Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) was another emerging theme from the day, and one of the chatrooms discussed this. Northern College of Acupuncture’s Karen Charlesworth convened a workshop on ethics in CAM research, and RCCM trustee and administrator Dr Ava Lorenc, using her editorial expertise at EUJIM, provided very practical guidance on getting your work published.
Overall the day provided a unique opportunity for the CAM research network in the UK and beyond to share ideas and especially to support early years researchers, to take forward the evidence base for CAM