They are taking up more and more space and now the French consider them. According to a Odoxa survey published this Thursday, May 11, a large part of the population sees alternative therapies favorably. According to the polling institute’s survey, 57% of French people “consider that alternative therapies are, in general, at least as effective as conventional medicine”. While 70% have a good image. A high rate, which remains however lower than that of conventional medicine, for which 84% of French people have a good image.
Another lesson from the study commissioned by Unadfi, the National Union of Associations for the Defense of Families and Individual Victims of Cults: the dynamic development of alternative therapies over the past five years. More than one in two French people consider themselves more willing today than 5 years ago to use it (54%). More than half also believe that alternative therapies compensate for health system problems such as difficulty in obtaining appointments with doctors (58%) and medical deserts (54%).
More than one in two French people have already used it
But what alternative therapies are we talking about? Today, the French rely heavily on manual manipulation (51%), traditional medicine (48%), plants (45%) and energies (39%) but also looking for psychological causes (26 %), spirituality (25%) and food (18%). In other words, osteopathy, homeopathy and acupuncture are the alternative therapies to which the French have the most recourse.
They are mainly followed to treat chronic pain (40%, especially by the oldest people, more often in the context of therapies related to manual manipulation). But also to benefit from a “natural remedy, a non-invasive solution” (33%), or even to treat “a specific problem” (29%). In addition, if less than one in five French people has already followed food-related therapy (18%), their experimentation is significantly higher among those under 25 (30%) and managers (25%). In this area, it is fasting (9%) and food detox (9%) that the French have used the most. In total, 89% of French people say they have already used an alternative therapy to treat themselves. On average, the French who follow alternative therapies devote 173 euros per year to it, expenses strongly linked to the standard of living.
Certain categories of the population even have “an almost equivalent image of conventional medicine and alternative therapies”, reveals the survey. Among them, 35-49 year olds (81% good image for conventional medicine and 77% for alternative therapies), job seekers (respectively 75% and 70%), members of the poorest households (79 % and 74%), or environmental sympathizers (80% and 81%).
However, reservations expressed
If their influence extends in the population, both among young and old, alternative therapies nevertheless still arouse reservations: for 63% of French people they are not scientifically recognized. Also, 61% of respondents would not seek an alternative therapy practitioner when faced with unknown symptoms and 56% believe that natural remedies can have harmful side effects. In addition, 71% of French people have in mind that alternative therapies can give rise to sectarian aberrations and 69% that an alternative therapy practitioner can exert influence over a person.
A rather factual observation widely relayed by the press, which L’Express has echoed several times. In a recent report, Unadfi reveals that nearly 55% of reports recorded in 2022 concerned the field of health, including personal development and well-being.
*Methodology: the survey was conducted online between April 13 and 14, 2023. The sample is made up of 1,005 people representative of the French population, aged 18 and over. The margin of error is between 1.4% and 3%.