What Is Integrative Medicine? Approaches and Evidence
Integrative medicine, sometimes called integrative health, means bringing conventional medical care and complementary approaches, such as acupuncture, massage, or mind-body practices, together in a coordinated way, with the stated goal of treating the whole person rather than one symptom or organ system in isolation. It is not a separate alternative to conventional medicine, and it does not mean skipping conventional care.
How NCCIH defines it
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) describes "integrative" as incorporating complementary approaches into mainstream care in a coordinated way, typically combining two or more interventions, for example medication alongside acupuncture or yoga. It uses "complementary" to describe practices or products of non-mainstream origin used alongside conventional care, and reserves "alternative" for using such practices instead of conventional care, which it notes is both uncommon and generally not advisable without first talking to a doctor.
NCCIH's 2021-2025 strategic plan widened this framing further to "whole person health," looking across biological, behavioral, social, and environmental factors rather than treating a diagnosis in isolation.
How evidence is weighed
NCCIH's stated mission is to determine, through rigorous scientific investigation, the usefulness and safety of these approaches, meaning integrative medicine, done responsibly, still expects research backing for individual practices rather than taking claims on faith. As one example of why that distinction matters, large, rigorous studies of some dietary supplements have often found they did not work for the conditions they were studied for, a useful reminder that being labeled "integrative" or "holistic" does not exempt a specific practice from needing to be tested.
Research into integrative programs for specific situations, cancer care is one example NCCIH points to, is often described as being in its early stages, with some promising but not conclusive results. That pattern shows up across many integrative approaches: plausible, sometimes helpful, not uniformly proven.
Questions to ask before trying an integrative approach
A few questions can help you evaluate whether a specific integrative approach makes sense for you:
- Does my regular doctor know I am considering this, and could it interact with any medication or condition I have?
- Is there research specific to my situation, or mostly research on other, different conditions?
- What would make this worth continuing, and what would be a sign to stop?
Functional medicine is one approach often grouped under the integrative umbrella. Our functional medicine overview and functional medicine and chiropractic care comparison both go further into how that specific approach compares with conventional care, and where its evidence and limitations stand.
- Integrative medicine combines conventional care with complementary approaches in a coordinated way; it does not replace conventional medicine.
- NCCIH’s current framing is whole person health, considering biological, behavioral, social, and environmental factors together.
- Being labeled integrative or holistic does not exempt a specific practice from needing evidence; some well-studied approaches, including certain supplements, turned out not to work as hoped.
- Tell your regular doctor about any integrative approach you are considering, especially around possible medication interactions.
- Before starting any new supplement or complementary approach if you take prescription medication.
- If symptoms are worsening despite an integrative approach you have already tried for a reasonable trial period.
