v ) Safety Only 7 % of respondents reported suspecting an adverse reaction in the past 12 months . Of these , 25.5 % were reported as aggravation of symptoms , 18.1 % as gastrointestinal reaction , and 10,6 % as bruising . Only three respondents reported referring the client to a medical practitioner . These reports suggest that the use of natural therapies is relatively safe . However , such reports need to be confirmed by other means as respondents may be unwilling to report adverse events or may have failed to report them accurately .
vi ) The COVID-19 pandemic The COVID pandemic brought immense disruption to all areas of life , including the professional lives of natural medicine practitioners . They were required to reorganise the way they delivered and charged for their services . In our survey , 68.2 % reported being double vaccinated . A total of 76.7 % reported that their businesses were affected by the pandemic . There was a reduction in the number of clients for some and this was also reported in other studies ( Lin et al ., 2021 ). Others reported an increase in client numbers because of surging interest in health and well-being during the pandemic . Many respondents were forced to redesign their delivery methods ( e . g ., more online consultations ), in some cases with long-lasting benefits . A study of Australian osteopaths ’ perceptions of the use of telehealth during the pandemic described the impact of the pandemic in further detail ( Grace et al ., 2024 ). As also reported in the literature ( Stub et al ., 2021 ), respondents in our survey felt that government-mandated lockdowns had a big effect on business and created uncertainty about their future .
Conclusion
The results of this survey have provided a snapshot of the natural medicine workforce in Australia , including their demographics and practice characteristics , and how advances in technology and the pandemic have affected their clinical practices . These results can be used to inform policy makers and thereby ensure the ongoing success and wellbeing of natural medicine practitioners in Australia .
For a longitudinal comparison of the natural medicine workforce over the past 20 years , see Grace and Baltrotsky ( 2023 ).
Acknowledgements
Our grateful thanks to our statistician , Dr Alison Bowling .
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