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The naturopathic profession in Australia: A secondary analysis of the Practitioner Research and Collaboration Initiative (PRACI)
Journal article   Peer reviewed

The naturopathic profession in Australia: A secondary analysis of the Practitioner Research and Collaboration Initiative (PRACI)

Amie Steel, Janet Schloss, Matthew Leach and Adams Jon
Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, Vol.40, 101220
2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2020.101220
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The naturopathic profession in Australia: A secondary analysis of the Practitioner Research and Collaboration Initiative (PRACI)View
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Abstract

Survey Health workforce Practice-based research network Naturopathy
This study provides the first detailed empirical examination of the naturopathic profession and naturopathic practice in Australia. Naturopaths from the Practitioner Research And Collaboration Initiative (PRACI) were invited to participate in an online workforce survey. The baseline survey was completed by 281 naturopaths and 155 (55.2%) completed the second survey. Respondents were predominantly female (86.7%), with a mean age of 45.5 years (SD 10.4). A diverse range of clinical interest topics were disclosed; most frequent were digestive (84.0%) and women's (79.4%) health. Diet/nutrition (91.1%), sleep (90.2%), stress management (85.3%) and physical activity/fitness (79.4%) were commonly discussed during consultation. Although respondents reported a varied scope of practice, there was a notable emphasis on lifestyle prescriptions. Given lifestyle diseases are the leading cause of death in Australia, a more in-depth examination of the preparedness of the naturopathy workforce to integrate into community-based health care teams is now warranted. •A survey of the Australian naturopathic profession has not been conducted since 2004.•The contemporary Australian naturopathic profession are predominantly female.•They report diverse clinical interests, including digestive and women's health.•They discuss diverse preventive health topics during consultations.

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