{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,5]],"date-time":"2026-06-05T19:25:23Z","timestamp":1780687523281,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":19,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,14]],"date-time":"2021-08-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1628899200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,14]],"date-time":"2021-08-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1628899200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["BMC Health Serv Res"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Globally, naturopathic practitioners offer services in 98 countries, reaching every world region and providing care to diverse populations for a range of acute and chronic health conditions. Community clinics provide free or low-cost healthcare services and play a key role in providing necessary primary healthcare for underprivileged or marginalized populations. However, the reach and impact of naturopathic community clinics (NCCs) has not yet been examined. The aim of this study was to identify the characteristics of NCCs around the world, determine the types of services they offer and provide insight into the populations being served.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Two online cross-sectional surveys were administered using purposive and snowball sampling. A 6-item screening survey was administered first to identify clinics and institutions who fit the criteria for NCC services, followed by a 40-item follow-up survey. Descriptive analysis was conducted using frequencies and means.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>The screening survey returned a total of 37 responses from six world regions. Of those respondents who indicated involvement in NCCs, 74% went on to complete the follow-up survey. The majority of the responding NCCs were located in North America (50%), followed by Western Pacific (17%), Europe (10%), Asia (13%), Latin America (7%) and Africa (3%). The vast majority (71%) of the NCCs that have been in operation for more than 10\u2009years are located in North America, while 43% of the NCCs that have been operational less than 5\u2009years are in the Western Pacific Region. 80% of the responding NCCs were affiliated with a naturopathic school. The majority of respondents (76%) mentioned that they aim to serve underserved and\/or marginalized populations, with 34% indicating that their target population is low-income families, 21% focusing on serving immigrants and refugees, 21% on serving people experiencing homelessness, 14% on serving Indigenous peoples, 14% on serving those with specific gender differences, 10% on serving seniors and 10% on serving drug users.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>The naturopathic profession offers free or significantly low-cost naturopathic services through community clinics around the world. The findings of this survey provide insight into the important role of the naturopathic profession in primary health care and provide rationale for exploring this topic in greater detail.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s12913-021-06806-5","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,14]],"date-time":"2021-08-14T08:03:02Z","timestamp":1628928182000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Naturopathic community clinics: an international cross-sectional survey"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Iva","family":"Lloyd","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3423-414X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sophia","family":"Gerontakos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Valentina","family":"Cardozo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"6806_CR1","volume-title":"Defining the global naturopathic profession","author":"World Naturopathic Federation","year":"2017","unstructured":"World Naturopathic Federation. Defining the global naturopathic profession. Toronto: WNF; 2017."},{"key":"6806_CR2","unstructured":"World Health Organization. WHO global report on traditional and complementary medicine 2019: Author; 2019."},{"key":"6806_CR3","volume-title":"Naturopathic numbers report","author":"World Naturopathic Federation","year":"2016","unstructured":"World Naturopathic Federation. Naturopathic numbers report. Toronto: WNF; 2016."},{"issue":"1","key":"6806_CR4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.1186\/s12906-020-2851-7","volume":"20","author":"A Steel","year":"2020","unstructured":"Steel A, Foley H, Bradley R, Van De Venter C, Lloyd I, Schloss J, et al. Overview of international naturopathic practice and patient characteristics: results from a cross-sectional study in 14 countries. BMC Complem Med Ther. 2020;20(1):59.","journal-title":"BMC Complem Med Ther"},{"key":"6806_CR5","unstructured":"World Health Organization and United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF). Declaration of Astana, Global conference on primary health care. Astana; 2018. Contract No.: WHO\/HIS\/SDS\/2018.61"},{"key":"6806_CR6","unstructured":"National Association of Community Health Centers. What is a community health center? USA. 2020 [Available from: https:\/\/www.nachc.org\/about\/about-our-health-centers\/what-is-a-health-center\/."},{"issue":"6","key":"6806_CR7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"475","DOI":"10.1007\/BF03403967","volume":"101","author":"W Rishma","year":"2010","unstructured":"Rishma W, Laura W, Kieran C, Dugald S. Naturopathic medicine and Aboriginal health: an exploratory study at Anishnawbe health Toronto. Can J Public Health. 2010;101(6):475\u201380.","journal-title":"Can J Public Health"},{"key":"6806_CR8","unstructured":"Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine. Clinics Toronto, Canada: CCNM; 2020 [Available from: https:\/\/www.ccnm.edu\/about-ccnm\/clinics."},{"key":"6806_CR9","unstructured":"Bastyr University. Community care sites USA. 2020 [Available from: https:\/\/bastyrclinic.org\/about\/community-care-sites."},{"key":"6806_CR10","unstructured":"Torrens University Australia. The practice wellbeing centre Australia: Southern School of Natural Therapies; 2020 [Available from: https:\/\/www.torrens.edu.au\/studying-with-us\/the-practice-wellbeing-centre."},{"key":"6806_CR11","unstructured":"World Naturopathic Federation. World naturopathic federation report. Toronto, Canada; 2015."},{"key":"6806_CR12","unstructured":"World Naturopathic Federation. Naturopathic roots report. Toronto, Canada; 2016."},{"issue":"5","key":"6806_CR13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"511","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpag.2020.06.007","volume":"33","author":"M Armour","year":"2020","unstructured":"Armour M, Ferfolja T, Curry C, Hyman MS, Parry K, Chalmers KJ, et al. The prevalence and educational impact of pelvic and menstrual pain in Australia: a National Online Survey of 4202 young women aged 13-25 years. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2020;33(5):511\u20138.","journal-title":"J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol"},{"issue":"2","key":"6806_CR14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.1089\/acm.2018.0309","volume":"25","author":"E McIntyre","year":"2019","unstructured":"McIntyre E, Adams J, Foley H, Harnett J, Leach MJ, Reid R, et al. Consultations with naturopaths and Western herbalists: prevalence of use and characteristics of users in Australia. J Altern Complement Med. 2019;25(2):181\u20138.","journal-title":"J Altern Complement Med"},{"issue":"2","key":"6806_CR15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"212","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pec.2016.09.015","volume":"100","author":"H Foley","year":"2017","unstructured":"Foley H, Steel A. Patient perceptions of clinical care in complementary medicine: a systematic review of the consultation experience. 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Accessed 28 Sept 2020."},{"key":"6806_CR19","unstructured":"Government of Canada. Panel on research ethics 2018 [Available from: https:\/\/ethics.gc.ca\/eng\/tcps2-eptc2_2018_chapter2-chapitre2.html."}],"container-title":["BMC Health Services Research"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1186\/s12913-021-06806-5.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1186\/s12913-021-06806-5\/fulltext.html","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1186\/s12913-021-06806-5.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,14]],"date-time":"2021-08-14T08:08:19Z","timestamp":1628928499000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/10.1186\/s12913-021-06806-5"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,14]]},"references-count":19,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,12]]}},"alternative-id":["6806"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s12913-021-06806-5","relation":{},"ISSN":["1472-6963"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1472-6963","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,14]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2 December 2020","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"21 July 2021","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"14 August 2021","order":3,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"Permission to access datasets was granted by the WNF. As a retrospective analysis of WNF data, the data collection was within the mandate of the WNF and no ethical approval was required [].","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"The authors have no competing interests to declare.","order":4,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"815"}}