Objectives:

To promote further consumer involvement in complementary medicine and specifically complementary medicine reviews. This relates to the fact that complementary medicine is a highly consumer driven movement and consumers often believe what they have read and seen in the media when making decisions. Consumers must be well informed to be able to make choices.

Methods:

Informally documented feedback and responses by consumers about the Cochrane Collaboration and the Complementary Medicine Field from a presentation about consumer involvement in research at a conference held in Exeter, UK. A formal survey has been despatched to conference participants assessing their views of barriers facing consumers.

Results:

Responses gained through informal conversations suggest that consumers view the following as barriers to involvement:

1. lack of knowledge about the Cochrane Collaboration and how to get involved
2. accessibility of the Cochrane Library
3. not understanding specific terminology used
4. not understanding statistical methods or the way that data is presented
5. cost in monetary terms
6. not understanding why a systematic review is relevant to consumers

Formal survey results will be presented at the colloquium

Discussion:

The Cochrane Collaboration must take into account breaking down barriers when addressing consumer issues. Many consumers do not have computer access in the first instance so the communication issue between Groups, Fields and consumers needs to be addressed. We can become more 'consumer friendly' by doing presentations to disease groups (eg National Eczema Society, UK; Arthritis Foundation, USA) and asking them as a 'group' to become involved. This would prevent consumers from feeling isolated. We also need to include the views of consumers in developing as well as developed countries to ensure all outcomes are relevant; what may be acceptable to a consumer in the UK or USA may not be transferable to consumers in South Africa or China. Additional discussion of these points will be raised in this oral/poster presentation.