What Is Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine: An Operational Typology (Part 2, The Typology).

Area of Science:

• Integrative Medicine
• Health Systems Research
• Medical Anthropology

Background:

• Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) encompasses diverse practices outside conventional Biomedicine.
• TCIM lacks a standardized classification system for scholars, educators, policymakers, and clinicians.
• This study introduces an operational typology to address this classification gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a rigorously elaborated classification system for the field of TCIM.
• To provide a meaningful delineation of TCIM features for various stakeholders.
• To support the integration of TCIM into national health systems.

Main Methods:

• The study employs operational typologies, defining categories through "ideal types" based on shared attributes.
• The typology is built upon conceptual analysis of World Health Organization (WHO) definitional indications for TCIM.
• Sociological and anthropological scholarship informed the typology's design.

Main Results:

• A six-type operational typology of TCIM was developed: Orally Transmitted Ethnomedical Systems, Codified Ethnomedical Systems, Non-Ethnomedical Whole Systems, Complementary Therapeutics, Community-Based Therapeutics, and Integrative Therapeutics.
• Each primary type includes subtypes for more nuanced classification.
• The typology is designed to be dynamic and permeable, acknowledging the fluid nature of TCIM.

Conclusions:

• The developed typology offers a structured approach to understanding and categorizing TCIM.
• Further applications of this typology will be detailed in subsequent articles of the series.
• This classification system aims to enhance the study and integration of TCIM globally.