The Acupuncture Evidence Project: What does this mean for practitioners?

Course overview

The relevance of acupuncture research evidence for acupuncture practitioners has a number of aspects. Firstly, when evidence is strong enough, it leads to the inclusion of acupuncture as a treatment option in clinical practice guidelines developed by governments and peak medical advisory bodies. This in turn translates into referral streams to acupuncturists from medical practitioners, and increased credibility within mainstream medicine. It also encourages government health funding systems and providers of health insurance to include acupuncture in their available services. Secondly, familiarity with the strength of evidence for different conditions assists practitioners to promote their practices through advertising and to inform their patients in a way that is accurate and evidence-based. Thirdly, it is important that practitioners have greater awareness of the increasing quantity and quality of acupuncture research so that they can feel confident to advocate for their profession. This course will examine a recent review of systematic reviews of acupuncture research, The Acupuncture Evidence Project. Background information about how evidence levels and evidence quality are assessed in acupuncture research will be included. The methodology, process and outcomes of the Acupuncture Evidence Project, of which the presenter was co-author, will be presented.