More than one in four U.S. hospitals now offer alternative and complementary therapies, such as acupuncture, reiki, homeopathy, and massage therapy.

A recent survey of nearly 1,400 U.S. hospitals shows more mainstream medical institutions are providing complementary and alternative therapies to meet growing demand. “More and more, patients are requesting care beyond what most consider to be traditional health services,” say researchers Sita Ananth of Health Forum, an affiliate of the American Hospital Association, and William Martin, PsyD, of the College of Commerce at DePaul University in Chicago, in a news release. “And hospitals are responding to the needsof the communities they serve by offering these therapies.”

The top six complementary and alternative medicine services offered on an outpatient basis among hospitals offering CAM were massage therapy (71%); tai chi, yoga, or chi gong (47%); relaxation training (43%), acupuncture (39%); guided imagery (32%), and therapeutic touch (30%). 

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