Glossary

The terms “complementary medicine” and “alternative medicine” refer to a broad set of health care practices that are not part of that country's own traditional or conventional medicine and are not fully integrated into the dominant health care system.

Terminology related to care practices and approaches continue to evolve; ‘integrative and functional medicine’ is emerging as a more inclusive term to replace ‘complementary and alternative medicine’. While functional medicine focuses on creating individualized therapies tailored to treat underlying causes of illness, integrative medicine seeks to understand the individual as a whole and applies many forms of therapy to improve wellness. As ‘integrative and functional medicine’ is not yet common nomenclature, the more traditional terminology ‘complementary and alternative medicine’ has been used.