n (%)
Some respondents said they reduced their pricing or had awkward conversations with some clients about pricing . A few said that removal of rebates decreased the number of students enrolling in natural therapies education .
4 . Collaboration Collaboration with other Health Practitioners In response to Q44 in the survey : ‘ Do you collaborate with other health practitioners ?’, 55.4 % ( 1065 out of 1921 ) confirmed that they collaborated with other health practitioners and 17.8 % ( 342 out of 1921 ) confirmed they did not . A total of 26.8 % ( 514 out of 1921 ) did not answer the question . More than three-quarters of respondents in each discipline category confirmed that they collaborated with other health practitioners , the most collaborative disciplines being Mind-body Medicine ( 85.7 %, 12 out of 14 respondents ) and Energetic Medicine ( 79.0 %, 15 out of 19 respondents ), although there were small numbers of respondents in these disciplines . Table 4.1 shows collaboration with other health practitioners by all discipline categories .
Referral to GPs for diagnostic testing It appears that many natural therapists refer to GPs for diagnostics testing ( e . g . blood tests , X-rays ). Of total respondents , 43.8 % ( 616 out of 1407 ) said they occasionally refer clients to GPs and 22.5 % ( 316 out of 1407 ) said they frequently refer clients to GPs for diagnostic testing . Figure 4.1 shows that more than half ( 55.9 %, 76 out of 136 ) of Registered Professionals stated that they occasionally refer to GPs and 40.5 % ( 199 out of 491 ) of Ingestive Medicine practitioners said they do so frequently . A total of 26.3 % ( 5 out of 19 ) of Energetic Medicine and 14.3 % ( 2 out of 14 ) of Mind-body Medicine practitioners said they never refer to GPs for diagnostic testing .
Referral for functional pathology tests Functional pathology tests include hair analysis , saliva , urine and stool testing , and gene mapping . A total of 32.9 % ( 464 out of 1409 ) of those who responded to
Discipline No Yes Total
Physical Medicine 148 ( 24.8 ) 448 ( 75.2 ) 596 ( 100 ) Ingestive Medicine 120 ( 24.4 ) 371 ( 75.6 ) 491 ( 100 ) Energetic Medicine 4 ( 21.1 ) 15 ( 79.0 ) 19 ( 100 ) Registered Profession 33 ( 24.4 ) 102 ( 75.6 ) 135 ( 100 ) Mind-body Medicine 2 ( 14.3 ) 12 ( 85.7 ) 14 ( 100 ) Other 10 ( 23.8 ) 32 ( 76.19 ) 42 ( 100 ) Total 317 ( 24.4 ) 980 ( 75.6 ) 1,297 ( 100 )
Table 4.1 Collaboration with Other Health Practitioners by Discipline Category
Percentage
60 50 40 30 20 10 0
60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Never |
Very Rarely |
Rarely |
Occasionally |
Frequently |
Very |
|
|
|
|
|
Frequently |
Physical Medicine Ingestive Medicine Energetic Medicine Registered Profession
Mind-body Medicine
Figure 4.1 Natural Therapists ’ Referral to GPs for Medical Diagnostic Tests by Discipline Category *
* Forty-two respondents out of 1297 who answered the question about referring their clients to GPs for diagnostic tests nominated their primary discipline as ‘ Other ’. This category has not been represented in Figure 4.1 .
Percentage
Never |
Very Rarely |
Rarely |
Occasionally |
Frequently |
Very |
|
|
|
|
|
Frequently |
Physical Medicine Ingestive Medicine Energetic Medicine Registered Profession
Mind-body Medicine
Figure 4.2 Natural Therapists ’ Referral for Functional Pathology Tests by Discipline Category *
* Forty-two respondents out of 1299 who answered the question about referral for functional pathology tests nominated their primary discipline as ‘ Other ’. This category has not been represented in Figure 4.2 .
74 | vol30 | no2 | JATMS