In the last decade, placebo effects have gained legitimacy with solid evidence emerging for their existence along with improved understanding of their neurobiological mechanisms. Nonetheless, placebos’ potential to change health care practice is still unrealized. In this talk, Ted discussed recent strategies to move non-deceptive placebos and placebo-enhancing strategies into medical practice. He discussed evidence regarding; 1) open-label placebos in clinical practice, 2) dose-extension/partial reinforcement conditioning paradigms and 3) enhancing patient-practitioner interactions. The strength and limitations of the evidence were discussed and the importance of honesty and ethical conduct explored. Hopefully, this talk will be part of the next decade’s work to make placebos honest and part of mainstream health care.
Presenter: Ted Kaptchuk is Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Program in Placebo Studies at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is also Professor of Medicine of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Learn More
Speaker Resources
What if the Placebo Effect Isn’t a Trick? -New York Times
Event Details
Date: Tuesday, December 4, 2018
Time: 8:00 am – 9:00 am (followed by Coffee Hour)
Venue: Bornstein Family Amphitheater, BWH
Address: 45 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115
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