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Model B : House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology, UK – Guidance or information on which modalities are efficacious

The Science and Technology Committee is established under the House of Lords to scrutinise government policy by undertaking cross-departmental inquiries into a range of different activities. [1]

The Committee published a printed report of an inquiry into complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in November 2000. The report provided criteria for categorisation based on:

The level of professional organization of the modalities
The availability of an individual diagnostic approach
The aim to complement or substitute allopathic medicine
The availability of a ‘credible’ evidence base [2]

Table 3: Categorisation by UK House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology

Group	Definition	Example/s
Professionally Organised Groups	Embraces what may be called the principal disciplines. Each of these therapies claims to have an individual diagnostic approach. Seen as the ‘Big 5’ by most of the CAM world	Osteopathy Chiropractic Acupuncture Herbal medicine Homeopathy.
Complementary Therapies	Therapies which are most often used to complement conventional medicine. Do not purport to embrace diagnostic skills.	Aromatherapy Alexander technique Massage therapy Counselling stress therapy Hypnotherapy Reflexology Shiatsu Meditation Yoga Nutritional medicine
Alternative Disciplines	Alternative disciplines offer diagnostic information as well as treatment and which, in general, favour a philosophical approach and are indifferent to the scientific principles of conventional medicine, and through which various and disparate frameworks of disease causation and its management are proposed. There are 2 subgroups.
	Long-established and traditional systems of healthcare	Ayurvedic medicine Traditional Chinese medicine Anthroposophical Eastern medicine Naturopathy Chinese herbal medicine
	Other alternative disciplines which lack any credible evidence base.	Crystal therapy Iridology Dowsing Radionics Kinesiology

Source: Scientific and Technology 6^th Report, UK Parliament, UK, 2000

Note: The definitions are direct quotation from the source.

References

UK Parliament. Science and Technology Committee (Lords). [homepage on the Internet]. c2021. [cited 2021 Apr 26]. Available from: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/193/science-and-technology-committee-lords/
UK Parliament. House of Lords (Session 1999-2000). Science and Technology – Sixth Report. [document on the Internet] c2000. [cited 2021 Apr 26]. Available from: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199900/ldselect/ldsctech/123/12301.htm

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