Contents lists available at ScienceDirect European Journal of Integrative Medicine journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/eujim Research paper What can acupuncture bring to Western medicine? The perspective of health professionals also trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine-based acupuncture ☆ Esther García-Escamilla a, ⁎ , Beatriz Rodríguez-Martín a,b a Health and Social Research Centre, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain b Faculty of Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and Nursing, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Avenida de la Real Fábrica de Sedas, Talavera de la Reina, Toledo 45600, Spain ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Acupuncture Health professionals Perceptions Grounded theory Integrative Medicine ABSTRACT Introduction: The inclusion of acupuncture into conventional healthcare is being internationally considered in response to increasing chronic diseases. The aim of this study was to understand health professionals' perceptions of the collaboration between Traditional Chinese Medicine-based acupuncture and Western medicine in Spain. Methods: A total of 27 in-depth interviews were conducted with Spanish health professionals who were trained in and practiced acupuncture. Grounded Theory Dimensional Analysis guided this research in order to obtain a theoretical explanation of the perceptions of participants. Results: Four main categories emerged from the analysis: styles of practice, benefits of the collaboration between acupuncture and conventional medicine, key factors for this cooperation and barriers to the practice of acupuncture into conventional healthcare settings. Discussion: A combination of both approaches may result in the amplification of health professionals' knowledge and the improvement of the healthcare. Acupuncture contributions to conventional medicine were valued because of its therapeutic properties and its proposals for personal development (lifestyle recommendations, Qi gong, meditation, breathing exercises, prayer, and creative activities). Barriers to acupuncture and Western medicine collaboration were related to the dominance of the biomedicine paradigm. Conclusion: Acupuncture was revealed as a new avenue of cooperation between professionals and a way to transcend the traditional division between disciplines. 1. Introduction Acupuncture originates from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and is one of the most popular complementary therapies in the Western world [1]. TCM-based acupuncture considers each person as whole being, not fragmented into body parts or into body and mind. Accordingly, it provides holistic treatments [2,3]. The insertion and manipulation of needles along specific body points is often used in conjunction with other TCM techniques such as moxibustion (heat stimulation), acupressure (finger pressure), massage and lifestyle counselling [4]. Although acupuncture is included in other East Asian Medical Systems (TEAM) as Tibetan or Japanese Traditional Medicine, and is also incorporated into the biomedical practise but may be empty of TCM worldview as is the case of Western Medical Acupuncture (WMA), which is focused on nerve stimulation [5]. We considered TCM-based acupuncture for this research because it is more widely practised in Spain. Furthermore, acupuncture is never entirely disas- sociated from traditional knowledge [4]. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognised its effectiveness and recommends the inclusion of acupuncture into the National Health Systems (NHS) in order to reduce the pressure of the high costs of some conventional treatments. It is also thought to be helpful in response to the increasing chronic and degenerative diseases [6–8]. Benefits of acupuncture in collaboration with conventional medi- cine have been evidenced in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis, paediatric pain and cancer. These advantages were related to improve- ments in physical and emotional symptoms, quality of life and physician-patient relationship. Gaining control over patient well-being, improvement of the immune system and reduction in drug side effects have also been reported [9–13]. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eujim.2017.05.002 Received 19 March 2017; Received in revised form 3 May 2017; Accepted 11 May 2017 ☆ Collaboration between acupuncture and Western medicine. ⁎ Corresponding author at: Health and Social Research Centre, Santa Teresa Jornet Street, Cuenca 16071, Spain. E-mail address: kung.acupuntura@gmail.com (E. García-Escamilla). European Journal of Integrative Medicine 12 (2017) 108–116 1876-3820/ © 2017 Published by Elsevier GmbH. MARK