By Daniel Buono

Acupuncture, aromatherapy and yoga may seem like methods of relaxation, but in the medical world, they are considered alternative medicines that many patients are reluctant to try, according to a recent research project.

The study, called the Boston Medical Center (BMC) Family Medicine Alternative Medicine Marketing research Project, was completed by patients at the BMC Family Medicine Clinic with the help of Northeastern students. Fourteen students, working on a service learning project for a class, studied the use of alternative medicine for the family clinic at the BMC, a non-profit organization, said Tony Gao, assistant professor of marketing in the College of Business Administration who taught the class.

“Dr. Saper [director of integrative medicine at BMC, in the department of family medicine] had an interest to launch a new service,” Gao said. “We needed to find out how often patients would be willing to receive the treatments, and how much they would be willing to pay.”

The top alternative medicines patients wanted to try were massage, chiropractic and yoga, according to the survey. The average price patients were willing to pay for alternative medicine was $10 and the average amount they would receive the treatment would be once a month.

Patients said the three most important reasons for trying alternative medicines are to treat health problems, effectiveness of treatment and expected outcome, according to the study.

The survey, completed in the spring, was conducted by interviews with 82 patients. The survey was conducted with 59 percent female patients and 41 percent male patients.

The ages of the interviewees ranged from about 20 to 30 years old. The ages were skewed because the elderly population was less willing to join the survey because it took a long time to complete and they were not fluent in English, according to the survey.

There were three different areas the students looked at for the alternative medicine survey, including treatment provided by doctors, nurses and staff members.

The survey asked questions about what discouraged patients from using complementary and alternative medicines, what made patients want to start using complementary and alternative medicine and what alternative or complimentary medicines have patients tried.

Patients surveyed said they knew little about alternative medicine and required education on the subject, the study reported. Some patients did not comprehend the services they were asked about, Gao said.

Laura Myers, a Northeastern alum who worked on the study, said alternative medicine takes more energy and time, which patients were not willing to contribute either.

There were also other difficulties as well, Myers said.

The groups tried to introduce alternative medicine to patients, which included methods likes hypnosis, chiropractic, herbal medicine and meditation, Gao said.

A Northeastern student said he was not interested in trying alternative medicine and wanted to be more educated about the subject.

“I would try it if it weren’t too strange,” said Edward Proctor a sophomore chemical engineering major. “I’d need to be more educated about it.”

Another student voiced concern about the price of the procedures.

Albert Choi a middler finance major said, “I think I might try it, but I’d need to know how much it costs, I wouldn’t pay too much money.”

One student even had family members try some of the methods.

“Some of my family has tried it, but I haven’t,” Trang Vo a middler music industry major, said.

Overall results reported that patients were satisfied with the doctors and BMC itself, but were apprehensive to try alternative medicine.

“No one wants to use some kind of alternative medicine, everyone just wants to take a pill,” Myers said.