| Course | INHE 1005 Foundations of Integrative Health |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 3 |
| Paper type | Term audit |
| Length | About 770 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | BS in Integrative Health |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for INHE 1005 Week 3
Together With or Instead Of: A Term Audit Ruling on Eight Everyday Uses of "Complementary" and "Alternative" Against One Criterion Set in Advance
Student Name
Walden University
INHE 1005: Foundations of Integrative Health
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Together With or Instead Of: A Term Audit Ruling on Eight Everyday Uses of "Complementary" and "Alternative" Against One Criterion Set in Advance
The Criterion, Stated First
In everyday speech, "complementary and alternative" works as a single phrase. In the glossary used for this course, the two words mean nearly opposite things. The federal center's glossary labels a nonmainstream practice complementary if it accompanies conventional medicine and alternative if it substitutes for it (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health [NCCIH], 2021). My criterion follows that distinction exactly: a usage is ruled complementary if the practice described runs together with conventional care, alternative if it replaces conventional care, and undecidable if the sentence does not say which. I wrote this criterion down before reading any of the eight usages, so that no ruling could shape it.
The Eight Usages
The usages below were collected over one week from a hospital website, a supplement label, news coverage, a conversation, an insurance summary, a clinical note in a course case study, a fitness studio flyer and a textbook. Each is paraphrased, not quoted, and none is attributed to a named source.
Table 1
Usages, the label each used, and the ruling under the criterion
| No. | Usage, paraphrased | Label used | Ruling | Reason | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A cancer center offers massage and music therapy to patients during chemotherapy | Complementary | Complementary | Practice runs alongside chemotherapy | |
| 2 | A supplement label calls its herbal blend a natural alternative to prescription sleep aids | Alternative | Alternative | Product is presented as a replacement | |
| 3 | A friend uses "alternative medicine," peppermint oil on her temples, while still taking her prescribed migraine drug | Alternative | Complementary | Used together with the prescription, whatever she calls it | |
| 4 | A case-study note says a patient declined surgery to pursue alternative treatment for a breast lump | Alternative | Alternative | Conventional care was declined | |
| 5 | A news story reports rising use of "complementary and alternative medicine" | Both | Undecidable | The phrase joins the two and gives no use | |
| 6 | An insurance summary lists chiropractic under "alternative treatments" | Alternative | Undecidable | The label names a type of practice, not how it is used | |
| 7 | A fitness studio offers a complementary first class | Complementary | Excluded | Means free of charge; not a health use | |
| 8 | A textbook chapter refers throughout to "CAM" | Both | Complementary in practice | Chapter's examples all involve use with conventional care | |
Rulings follow the criterion above; usage 7 is excluded because the word is used in an unrelated sense.
The Two Undecidable Rulings
Usage 5 cannot be ruled because the phrase "complementary and alternative medicine" bundles the two meanings. A survey that counts "CAM use" counts people who use yoga alongside their medications and people who refuse chemotherapy for herbal remedies in one figure. The national center itself moved away from the bundled phrase, and its renamed title in 2014 replaced "alternative" with "integrative" (NCCIH, 2021). Calling usage 5 complementary because most such use is in fact combined with conventional care would be a guess about the population behind the headline, and the criterion asks about the sentence, not the population.
Usage 6 is undecidable for a different reason. The insurer uses "alternative" as a category of practice, chiropractic, not as a description of how a member uses it. A member who sees a chiropractor while also under a physician's care is using it as a complementary approach; a member who uses it instead of seeing a physician is using it as an alternative. The summary cannot tell which. National survey data show that chiropractic is one of the more commonly used approaches among U.S. adults (Nahin et al., 2024), so the ambiguity in insurance wording affects many people. I leave the ruling undecidable because forcing it would mean ruling on the member, not the words.
What the Audit Shows
Three of the eight speakers used a label that the criterion overturned or could not confirm. The most telling is usage 3, where the speaker called her practice alternative but used it in exactly the way the glossary calls complementary. Labels in everyday speech often describe how unfamiliar a practice seems rather than how it is used. More than vocabulary is at stake. Using a practice instead of conventional care can carry indirect risks, such as a delayed diagnosis, that come from the decision rather than from the practice itself (Wardle & Adams, 2014), which is why usage 4 is the one ruling in this audit with clear health consequences. For this course, the audit suggests a working rule: describe how a practice is used before naming it, and avoid the bundled phrase in my own writing.
References
Nahin, R. L., Rhee, A., & Stussman, B. (2024). Use of complementary health approaches overall and for pain management by US adults. JAMA, 331(7), 613-615. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2023.26775
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. (2021). Complementary, alternative, or integrative health: What's in a name? https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/complementary-alternative-or-integrative-health-whats-in-a-name
Wardle, J., & Adams, J. (2014). Indirect and non-health risks associated with complementary and alternative medicine use: An integrative review. European Journal of Integrative Medicine, 6(4), 409-422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eujim.2014.01.001
The Walden INHE 1005 Week 3 instructions
Term audits in this course ask students to collect real uses of key terms and judge them against a definition. Prompts usually ask for a set number of usages from varied sources, a stated criterion, a ruling on each and an explanation of any that could not be ruled. Some ask students to reflect on what the audit reveals about how the terms are used outside the field. Instructors want to see that the criterion came first and was applied consistently. Audits that adjust the criterion to fit each example, or that skip hard cases, generally score lower than those that hold the line. Usages are often expected to come from different kinds of sources, such as websites, labels, conversations and coursework, so that the audit samples everyday language rather than a single genre.
How this INHE 1005 Week 3 example is built
The audit opens by stating its criterion and its source, noting that the criterion was fixed before reading any usage. Eight usages, paraphrased from varied everyday sources, appear in a table with the label each used, the ruling and the reason. One is excluded because it uses the word in an unrelated sense. Two sections defend the undecidable rulings: the bundled phrase in a news story and an insurer's practice category. A final section draws a lesson from the overturned labels and notes, with a source, that replacing conventional care carries indirect risks. Every usage is paraphrased and left unattributed, which keeps the audit focused on the words rather than on criticizing any publisher or person.
INHE 1005 Week 3 rubric: what earns full marks
Instructors usually check first that the criterion was stated before the evidence and applied the same way every time. Rulings with reasons earn a substantial share. Handling hard cases openly is where audits are separated: the two undecidable rulings here are defended at length rather than forced, and that earns credit. Excluding an unrelated sense of the word shows care with language. Accurate use of the federal center's definitions supports the criterion. The closing lesson, that everyday labels often describe unfamiliarity rather than use, shows the audit produced an insight. APA format and citation quality complete the evaluation. Paraphrasing instead of quoting named sources is also noticed, since it avoids turning a language exercise into a critique of particular organizations.
Common INHE 1005 Week 3 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Write your criterion down before you collect anything, and do not change it. Gather usages from different kinds of sources. For each, record the label the speaker used, your ruling and a one-line reason. When a usage cannot be ruled, explain exactly why instead of guessing. Leave out uses of the word in unrelated senses, and say so. If your rulings keep shifting as you go, we can prepare a sample audit with your collected usages. Paraphrase usages rather than quoting named sources, unless your prompt asks for citations to them.
Get a INHE 1005 Week 3 example written to your instructions
Forward the audit prompt, the number of items your section wants and any source list it names, and a completed audit in this shape comes back. First custom piece is free, turned around in 24 to 48 hours. If the assignment wants usages gathered at a site you work for, that collecting stays yours.
More INHE 1005 papers and BS in Integrative Health samples
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INHE 1005 Week 3 questions, answered
Where can I find a free INHE 1005 Week 3 sample paper?
The full Week 3 term audit is above, ruling on eight usages of complementary and alternative.
What criterion does the audit use?
Whether the practice runs together with conventional care or replaces it.
Why is "complementary and alternative medicine" undecidable?
The bundled phrase joins both meanings and says nothing about how a practice is used.
Can someone call a practice alternative when it is really complementary?
Yes. One usage here does exactly that, and the audit overturns the label.
Why was one usage excluded?
It used "complementary" to mean free of charge, not a health practice.