In the example presented, the outcomes of the study included a model for clinician-patient TM/CAM communication, and several scientific presentations and publications.15, 16 The study revealed, from both the clinician and patient perspectives, a set of barriers to TM/CAM communication. Patients’ views about clinician receptivity to, and initiation of discussion about, TM/CAM strongly influenced patients’ decisions to communicate; patients’ expectations about clinician expertise in TM/CAM were less important. Clinicians’ comfort with patients’ self-care approaches and clinicians’ level of concern about lack of scientific evidence of effectiveness and safety of TM/CAM influenced their communication about TM/CAM with patients. Some of these barriers were unanticipated, and yet, most could be easily resolved by the clinician.15
