Nursery World - A healthy choice

Many families today go for alternative medical treatments, but should you go along with it? Penny Vevers investigates Getting a child to eat healthy food, comforting them when they fall over and hurt themselves, looking after them when they have a bad cold or helping them feel better while they are recovering are all part of a nanny's daily experience. More parents are turning to complementary and alternative therapies alongside or instead of conventional medicine. While nannies don't make the decisions about how a child is treated, they need to be informed about the debates surrounding these therapies.

Getting a child to eat healthy food, comforting them when they fall over and hurt themselves, looking after them when they have a bad cold or helping them feel better while they are recovering are all part of a nanny's daily experience. More parents are turning to complementary and alternative therapies alongside or instead of conventional medicine. While nannies don't make the decisions about how a child is treated, they need to be informed about the debates surrounding these therapies.

Belief and evidence

People may choose complementary therapies because they believe they might be safer than prescription drugs; they like the emphasis on 'all things natural', and the holistic or whole-person approach; and they like feeling in control of their treatment. They also like having more time in consultations to build a good patient-therapist relationship. A recent survey found that users spent more than 15 a month on these therapies, making it a lucrative business.

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