The
Aurum Project
Commitment to the Healthand Wellbeing of Children
The AHA is the peak body for homeopathy in Australia.
Acknowledgements HomeoStats: for the study software
Helene Deizel (PRACI): advice and fruitful discussions
AHA: Grant and further financial support
ARoH: CPD for participants and data on profession
Michael Cowdroy (Duozmedia): for the graphic, web design and online support for this survey
survey METHODOLOGY
future work
AIMS Establish demographics of homeopathic practice
Contemporary homeopathic practice in Australia had not been formally measured. An innovative mixed methods study was designed to describe homeopathy practice. For the first time, formal research was conducted to assess practice diversity and demographics of homeopaths and their patients across many clinics all over our continent.
This approach was chosen to create high external validity. It minimised the impact of the researcher’s preconceived theories about what happens in practice, and reduced the disturbance to practice that occurs when recording activity in real time.
This project has Human Ethics Approval HREC20181005.
AssumptionsPatients seen once a month
IT platform might be an obstacle to participation
“Too busy/not busy enough” might exclude participation
Homeopaths demoralised and marginalised by Australian strategic attacks on profession
LimitationsDid not assess style or influence of case taking model used
Did not assess influence of homeopath’s experience on treatment outcomes
ICPC2 reflects the patient diagnosis but doesn’t explain the source or origin of this diagnosis
The survey was conducted 28 January 2019 - 22 March 2019. Homeopaths registered through the Aurum Project Survey registration page prior to the start of the survey.
Initially 69 homeopaths (63 women & 6 men) took part in the survey. Four homeopaths withdrew from the survey during the survey period. Participation required ARoH registration.
Homeopaths provided their age, gender, state/location of practice, contact details, and ARoH registration number. The homeopaths and their patients provided written informed consent. Patients and homeopaths were free to leave the survey at any time.
Homeopaths were asked to determine the main complaint from each case using the International Classification of Primary Care 2 (ICPC2). There were 112 conditions recorded, in 19 broad classifications. Remedy and potency were recorded. More than one complaint could be recorded for each visit.
Data was collected using a purpose-built platform, HomeoStats. For anonymity, patients were allocated a random six digit identifier.
HomeoStats > Patient List > 160749
Add Visit Edit patient details Delete this patient
160749
Date of birth April 10, 1755
Gender Male
Resident of Australia - (NSW)
Ethnicity Germany
VisitsDate
March 1, 2018
Homeopaths and patients were provided with comprehensive information packs, weekly support messages and extensive online FAQ support. Throughout the survey period, homeopaths recorded the following data about their participating patients:
• demographic data – age, gender, ethnicity• presenting condition as defined by ICPC2• remedies and potencies prescribedAny extra information was recorded in a ‘notes’ section.
New Visit (160749)Date:
Complaints:
Prescribed remedies:
Notes:
21-07-2018
Required. Enter in the form dd-mm-yyyy e.g. 23-03-2012
Complaint Group Complaint
Remedy Potency (optional)
Optional This information is not visible to other users.
Complaint I Response from last visit
Remedy I Potency
Co�ea Cruda 30C Delete
Sleep disorders/insomnia No Change Update Delete
Conjunctivitis New Complaint Update Delete
Add a complaint
Add a Remedy
---------- -------------------- Add this complaint
Add this remedy
Save Visit
apis 200C
HomeoStats > 160749 > New Visit
Does gender play a part in
practice?Being female means you are more likely to see a homeopath, who is more likely to
be a woman.
50 40 30 20 10 0 0 10 20 30 40 50
Male Female
Percentage of mental health visits by condition and gender
Not Specified
GAD
PTSD
Depression
All otherConditions
Alzheimer's Disease 0.3%Brain Injury 0.8%Dementia 0.5%Depression 14.4%Dyslexia 0.3%Eating Disorders 1.1%Epilepsy 1.1%Generalised Anxiety Disorder 28.8%Obsessive Compulsive Disorder 0.8%Other Mental Health Condition 38.7%Panic Attack 3.7%Personality Disorder 1.6%Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 6.1%Schizophrenia 0.3%Separation Anxiety 1.6%
FINDINGS
MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS
First Survey
of Australian Homeopathy
OVER 8 WEEKS1447Total visits 65 Homeopaths [
59 women
6 men
MENTAL HEALTH visits during
survey375
data driven QUESTIONS• Did patients come with a diagnosis?• How much does the style of case taking influence the results?
Ears
21
Vertigo
7
Eyes 15
Head
28
Face
25
Lungs
65
Endocrine
65
Kidney 11
Throat
29
G.I.T.
123
Nervous
19
First Aid
9
112
Skin
134
Muscle
64
Nose
42
Heart
12
General
153
Mind 375 People present to homeopaths with a broad spectrum of conditions as defined by ICPC2.
112 different conditions were recorded in 19 main categories with 1227 visits, in an 8 week period. 220 visits had no primary condition recorded in HomeoStats.
SA NSW QLD VIC WA
6050403020100
0102030405060
Survey Sample Validity
AH
A* s
ampl
e %
S
urve
y sa
mpl
e %
*AHA data 2018 membership
30
25
20
15
10
5
0 1 - 20 21 - 40 41 - 60 61 - 80
Number of patient visits for mental health
Num
ber o
f Hom
eopa
ths
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Perc
enta
ge o
f Vis
its b
y G
ende
r
Female Male
Survey had high participation rate
Data recording had minimal impact on homeopaths ‘normal’ practice activity
Second survey:• Include a patient self reflection measure (MYMOP2)• Evaluate remedy prescription• Expand selection criteria for homeopaths to participate and include:
- Non-registered homeopaths - Other general health practitioners (naturopathy/
nutrition/osteopathy/ registered nurse etc)• Include type of homeopathy approach used in clinic• Explore winter period instead of summer which is a peak holiday period• Level of education recorded for both patient and homeopath• Number of modalities practiced by homeopath• Number of years in practice for homeopath• Number of years in practice for complementary medicine or other allied health activity.
Australian national charity promoting and conducting homeopathy and natural therapies research
107/20 Dale Street Brookvale NSW 2100 612 9905 9415 https://aurumproject.org.au [email protected]
National Survey Research TeamGabrielle Brodie 1 Dr Celeste Salter 2 Linlee Jordan 3 Lorena Mattiolo 4 Dr David Levy 5 Shilpa Bhouraskar 6 Ann Manning 7
Number of visits over 8 weeks
Perc
enta
ge o
f Pat
ient
s
Male
Female
35 Homeopaths saw patients with Mental Health as the primary condition.
316
5 2
7
Thank you to all of the participating homeopaths for their outstanding effort and true commitment during a time when Australian homeopathy needs them most.
ReferencesAustralian Homœopathic Association. (2019). Registrars Report 2003 - 2018. Unpublished data.
Greenland, J. (2017). Marginalising homœopathy: an Australian case study, Prometheus, 35(3), 171-192. doi:10.1080/ 08109028.2018.1472361
Lewis, M. (2019). De-Legitimising Complementary Medicine : Framings of the Friends of Science in Medicine - CAM Debate in Australian media reports, Sociology of Health & Illness, 41(3).1-21. doi:10.1111/1467-9566.12865
Semby, M and Rowe T. (2014). American Homeopathic Patient Survey 2014, American Medical College of Homeopathy Department of Research.
Steel, A., Adams, J and Sibbritt, D. (2014). Developing a multi-modality complementary medicine practice-based research network: The PRACI project. Adv. Integrative. Med, 1(3), 113 - 118. doi:10.1016/J.AIMED.2014.11.003
Thompson, E., Viksveen, P., & Barron, S. (2016). A patient reported outcome measure in homeopathic clinical practice for long-term conditions. Homeopathy, 105(4), 309–317. doi: 10.1016/j.homp.2016.05.001
Treuherz, F. (2000). Homeopathy in general practice: a descriptive report of work with 500 consecutive patients, Br Homeopath J, 89(S 01): S43. doi: 10.1054/homp.1999.0383
World Health Organisation ICPC2 - https://www.who.int/classifications/icd/adaptations/icpc2/en/ Accessed https://www.who.int
primary condition (number of visits)
