About The NORPHCAM Network
NORPHCAM is the first international collaborative network dedicated to promoting and advancing the public health and health services research of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine and integrative health care. Central to NORPHCAM's mission is the need to address a number of issues crucial to the rigorous, systematic investigation of contemporary CAM: 1) the need to supplement and contextualise clinical research and enquiry to ensure practice and policy relevance; 2) the need to introduce and highlight a broad range of scientific and methodological approaches and methods to the investigation of CAM; 3) the need to ensure research adequately investigates the range of remedies, practices, technologies AND practitioners that constitute the broad field of CAM as practised and used around the world; and 4) the need to provide linkage and communication between researchers and practitioners and to actively encourage research capacity building around CAM.
In academic terms, the significance of the work and activities of NORPHCAM reaches well beyond just advancing and promoting the Public Health and Health Services research of complementary medicine. NORPHCAM's program is of major significance to clinical research and researchers helping to strengthen and complement their efforts through guiding the effective and safe translation of clinical evidence into health practice and policy.
NORPHCAM collaborators publish and disseminate empirical findings for consumers, practitioners, health management, policy-makers and researchers in a wide range of leading international academic and professional journals and research books. Our core collaborators have attracted funds for CAM research from NIH, CIH, NHMRC, ARC, and other external funding bodies and a number have also held prestigious Fellowships and Scholarships (International Brisbane initiative, University of Oxford; ESRC; Universitas 21; NHMRC, and more).
The Network brings together investigators with strengths in a wide range of disciplines and methodologies (e.g. health economics, qualitative methods, mixed-methods design, biostatistics, survey design and more) necessary to ensure multidisciplinary, multi-method Public Health and Health Services research that is of significance and benefit to those 'in the field'
What We Do
As a collaborative network we aim to bring together all parties interested in CAM research, practice and policy to promote empirical study in this area, particularly pertaining to public health and health services research. NORPHCAM offers a consultancy workshop series as well as many other services for interested researchers, practitioners and students. If you would like to get involved in CAM research, we can offer you a wealth of experience through our vast international network. Similarly, if you are a researcher who shares our vision, passion and commitment to promote and advance public health and health services research, please feel free to contact us for more information.