Health Tourism and Alternative Medicine: a Study on the Offer and Profile of Establishments nearby Two Hospitals in the City of Porto Alegre-Brazil

Abstract

Alternative medicine is a term that describes medical treatments that are used instead of traditional therapies. About 40% of adults in the United States say they use some form of alternative medicine. We analyze establishments that offer alternative treatments and are located in the vicinity of hospitals that receive health tourists. We found 10 establishments (through Google search) but only 04 responded to the survey. The reason for not performing in the other 06 was: 01 was not in attendance, in 03 it was not possible to contact, 01 was not found and 01 refused to respond. Among those who answered, 03 were not aware of health tourism. All attend patients from outside Porto Alegre and 03 from other states and countries. The percentage of out-of-town patient visits ranged from 0 to 10% in two establishments and 31 to 40% in two others. Chiropractic and Reike were the most commonly offered therapies, followed by Bach Flowers and others such as Orthomolecular Medicine, Chromotherapy and Aromatherapy. All the establishments have pages in the internet but only in 01 it is possible to obtain information in another language (in English, in the page of the parent company). We conclude that health tourism is still unknown by alternative medicine establishments and that even among those who receive patients from other sources, the movement can be considered small in half of them. Lack of sites in other languages may be a barrier to foreign tourists.