ayurveda - vsamt.ch

AYURVEDAIN SWITZERLANDFIRST NATIONAL SURVEY AMONG AYURVEDA PROFESSIONALS

September 2020

Martina Ludescher

© 2020 Martina Ludescher

How did this market research come about?

© 2020 Martina Ludescher 2

Motivation:• No market data on Ayurveda in Switzerland available• Create transparency and evidence base for Ayurveda medicine in Switzerland• Identify “pains and gains“ for Ayurveda practicioners

Data Sources:• Qualitative Interviews with Ayurveda medicine practicioners and Ayurveda therapists• Electronic survey among 170 Ayurveda medicine practicioners and therapists• Desktop research of VSAMT/AMVS members

The typical Ayurveda practicioner in Switzerland


Medical background

Ayurveda certificate from European Ayurveda Academy/ HPS

50-60 years old

> 60%Swiss origin

78%Female

82%Years of practice

10+

Naturopathy, health and therapeutic practices are the most commonlocations for Ayurveda practicioners


Naturopathy, health and therapeutic practices

>75%Home practice

22%„One woman/man shows“

86%No referral

relationships

40%Top 3

Top 10 Ayurveda service offerings


Nutrition advice (89%)

Lifestyle advice (82%)

Abhyanga (89%)

Svedana (58%)

Marma Therapy (58%)

Kati Basti (53%)

Pranayama (58%)

Shirodhara (51%)

Herbal remedies (51%)

Meditation facilitation (51%)

1

55%2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

offer other therapies than Ayurveda

55%

Only 23% of the Ayurvedic Practicioners have a Federal Diploma today

6

Federal Diploma for Ayurveda Medicine Federal Diploma for Ayurveda Therapy No Federal Diploma

77%No Federal Diploma

8%Federal Diploma for Ayurveda Medicine

15%Federal Diploma for Ayurveda Therapy


50% plan to obtain a Federal Diploma in the future

7

Federal Diploma for Ayurveda Medicine Federal Diploma for Ayurveda Therapy I don't know yet No

24%No

26%Federal Diploma for Ayurveda Medicine

26%Don‘t know yet

24%Federal Diploma for Ayurveda Therapy


The Ayurveda education is perceived as:

8

High costs (65%)

Insufficient preparation for professional challenges (29%)

Time pressure (29%)

Outdated methodology (100% face-to-face training) (20%)

Double burden “Ayurveda Medicine“ and „Western Medicine“ (20%)

Duration of training (16%)

Too theoretical (18%)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7


86% of practitioners are fulfilled by their work21% can live well from Ayurveda

9

The work fulfills me (86%)

Attractive, I can live well from it (21%)

I would always choose again that career path (60%)

Financially unattractive, I can hardly make a living (19%)

Ayurveda is a hobby, I could not live on it (7%)

1

2

3

4

5


50% have a capacity utilization of less than 50%

10

<30% 30-49% 50-79% >80%

21%

29%26%

24%

Average Workload


Capacity utilization in %

38% see less than 5 clients/patients per week

11

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

<5

5-9

10-19

>20

in % of practicioners

No. of clients/patients per week

31%

21%

38%

10%


Biggest hurdles for running a successful Ayurveda practice

12

Health insurance companies (61%)

High costs and time expenditure for continuous training and certification at „Intermediate bodies“ such as EMR, ANCA, etc. (41%)

Wrong perception of Ayurveda (60%)

1

55%2

3

Consumer attitude of people, “hopping from system to system“ (30%)4

Lack of awareness of Ayurveda (27%)

Training offers insufficient preparation for professional reality (16%)

Lack of financial means to invest (24%)

Too few Ayurveda offers (14%)

Oversupply of alternative medicine methods (14%)

5

6

7

8

9


Key issues with health insurance companies

13

Missing or inadequate reimbursement of Ayurveda (64%)

Arbitrariness and ever changing conditions (22%)

Reimbursements provided by insurance companies vary widely (56%)

Tariff 590 complicated and difficult to reconcile with Ayurveda (13%)

1

2

3

4

Aren‘t working with health insurance companies at all!

16%


Cost contributions from health insurance

14

<25% 25-49% 50-74% >75%

For 68% of practicioners, more than 50% ofclients/patients receive cost contributionsfrom health insurance

20%

29%

12%

39%

Average % of clients/patients receiving insurance payments


Reimbursements

15

<25% 25-49% 50-74% >75%

13%

43%

21%

23%

Average % of health insurance reimbursements

66% of clients/patients receivereimbursement of more than 50%


Anticipation of practicioners

16

<25% 25-49% 50-74% >75%

33%

33%

22%

12%

Average % of lost clients/patients without Ayurveda reimbursements

45% of practicioners anticipate they wouldlose more than 50% of clients/patientswithout reimbursements


The typical Ayurveda client/patient

17

65 years and above

45-64 years

19-44 years

5-18 years

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

2%

83%

67%

21%

Female

72%

% of practicioners who often treat the respective age groups

In the age group of 45-64 years (83%)


Primary goal of treatments

18

Prevention Treatment of chronic diseases Acute pain treatment

50%Prevention

31%Treatment of

chronic diseases

19%Acute pain treatment

Prevention is the primary goal of treatments (50%)

Goal of treatments in %


Top 10 health issues most often treated with Ayurveda

19

Back pain (77%)

Sleep problems (62%)

Indigestion (72%)

Constipation (51%)

Fatigue (50%)

Headache (42%)

Stress/burnout (48%)

Acidity (38%)

Menopausal symptoms (37%)

Chronical pain (34%)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10


Effectiveness: best results are achieved with female health

20

Pregnancy

Musculoskeletal system

Digestive problems

Weight issues

Fertility

1

2

3

4

5


77% of practicioners achieve a signifiant client/patient health improvementthrough Ayurveda treatments

21

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Ineffective

No change, but stable

Some improvements

Significant improvement

Complete recovery 3%

77%

20%

0%

0%


Key areas of interest for collaboration

22

Exchange of expertise (62%)

Joint purchase of materials (e.g. oils, herbs, equipment) (31%)

Dealing with health insurance companies (45%)

Marketing (26%)

Administration (19%)

1

2

3

4

5

IT (systems, support) (19%)6


What the VSAMT should focus on

23

Get health insurance companies on board for Ayurveda and negotiate solutions with them (89%)- Recognize treatments from certified Ayurvedic medicine practicioners and therapists- Set realistic rates and limits so that treatment goals can be achieved- Remuneration system which allows to earn an adequate income

1

Participation in the committees (TO, OdA etc.) (57%)

Public relations (increase awareness of Ayurveda, correct false perception) (66%)

Revision of professional profiles and curriculum for the training of Ayurveda medicine practicioners/therapists (48%):- Reduction of training costs and duration - Possibility for online/mixed learning, intensive formats- Better prepare students for practical work with clients/patients and running a successful practice- De-bureaucratization

Political lobbying (41%)

2

3

4

5

+ engaging the members!


6

ayurveda - vsamt.ch

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