Abstract
Backgrounds & Aims : In recent years, there has been increased interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among the general population. For this study we examined the effect of the “self-care course” in which CAM is emphasized. Methods : Five courses were held over a period of three months at the Yoshioka Health Center in Gunma, Japan. The self-care program we used was based on Dr. Weil' s “8 weeks optimum health” and was redesigned for simplicity for our study. The average number of participants per course was 37.6. The participants were required to evaluate their own achievement rate by the visual analogue scale (VAS). Before and after results were compared by using questionnaires (POMS, GHQ30). Results : A decrease was observed on VAS on the item titled “Projects”. With POMS we noted meaningful statistical improvements in the item of depression-dejection and confusion, and also noted were meaningful statistical improvements of the GHQ30 total score. Conclusions : This study about CAM inspire new effective methodology in the field of community health.
