Rapid rise in people – including women over 50 – seeking acupuncture to support mental health problems….but GP’s are still “behind the curve”
Survey reveals fresh insight into nation’s struggles with mental health to mark Acupuncture Awareness Week (10-16th November)
New research1 suggests that there has been a significant rise in people seeking treatment with acupuncture for mental health issues, with over two thirds (68%) of acupuncturists asked admitting that the prevalence of patients seeking support for mental health concerns had increased over the past year. Furthermore, a staggering 93% said they had supported a patient for mental health issues in the past 6 months. The biggest uplift (82%) was seen in women aged over 40, followed by young adults (67%) and men aged over 40 (50%).
The most prominent condition amongst these patients was generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), followed by depression. Over half of those acupuncturists asked (55%), said they had seen clients presenting with social anxiety, a third (30.6%) reported that clients were experiencing addiction issues and 49% said they had seen clients with ADHD or attention deficit disorders. Encouragingly, 99.5% of the acupuncturists reported that patients had generally experienced positive results.
The survey was conducted by the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC), the largest professional body for traditional acupuncturists, as part of a campaign to coincide with Acupuncture Awareness Week AAW (10-16th November) to raise awareness of the benefits of this ancient medicine as “the original whole system of health”.
Despite the rise in demand for acupuncture, only 15% of professional acupuncturists surveyed said that their patients had been recommended the treatment by their GP. As part of Acupuncture Awareness Week, BAcC is working to improve education for healthcare professionals about acupuncture as a holistic medicine for mental as well as physical health. As new digital resource has been developed and is now available for regulated health professionals to download.
Collaborate with Confidence: Why Refer to a British Acupuncture Council (BAcC) Acupuncturist?
The survey also probed acupuncturists’ opinions on healthcare professional referrals. Overall, there’s a concern that both the public and health care professionals are not aware that acupuncturists are trained to help people with mental as well as physical health issues: 95% and 96% respectively. Asked why they thought some GPs and NHS consultants are not widely recommending acupuncture, the highest-ranking reason is a perceived lack of understanding of the benefits of this complementary therapy (58%). Additional factors given included GPs not realising that acupuncture could be available to patients on the NHS and the fact they felt GPs are sceptical of acupuncture’s evidence base.
CEO of the British Acupuncture Council Alex Jacobs MBAcC MRCHM comments, “While these latest statistics show a concerning increase in people experiencing a wide range of mental health issues from anxiety to addiction, it makes us even more resolute about highlighting the impact that acupuncture can have on physical and mental health. By shining a light on the modern-day demand for this traditional medical therapy, we hope that acupuncturists will be recognised alongside regulated health professionals such as physiotherapists.
“With the growing acceptance of and robust evidence base for acupuncture as a safe and effective treatment for a wide range of conditions, we want health care professionals like GPs to feel confident and comfortable in recommending it to patients. However, our survey shows there is still a reticence amongst some healthcare professionals to do this. This new guide provides the definitive evidence and professional reassurance GPs need to confidently refer to patients. This is about driving up standards in care for patients, with a call to GPs to broaden their understanding of acupuncture and recognise that as the British Acupuncture Council is an Accredited Register with the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), GPs are permitted to refer patients to BAcC members.”
The British Acupuncture Council (BAcC) has nearly 3,000 members who belong to an accredited register, regulated and approved by the Professional Standards Authority for Health & Social Care (PSA). The PSA protects the public by overseeing the regulation and registration of healthcare professionals – including statutorily regulated professions, such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and Accredited Registers like the BAcC. This offers a quality mark for high standards of training, safe practice and professional conduct.
Referral to a British Acupuncture Council member ensures patients receive care that is evidence-based, professionally audited, independently regulated, and backed by a comprehensive complaints process. Find a trusted practitioner here: Find an acupuncturist – BAcC.