Putting placebos into practice

Abstract Placebos have been part of the medical lexicon for over 200 years. Over these 2 centuries, there has been discussion about the use of placebos in clinical practice with various interpretations (positive and negative) from utility and ethical perspectives. The advent of the placebo-controlled trial in the 1950s, coupled with Beecher’s seminal meta-analysis in 1955, raised the profile of the topic area and arguably marked a new phase in research on placebos and placebo effects. The field of Placebo Research has evolved significantly over the past 70 years. Much work has been devoted to understanding how and why placebo effects arise; however, there is a relative lack of research on how to implement this research for patient benefit. This chapter calls for a shift in the Placebo Research field, one which dramatically increases implementation of the existing research for patient benefit and clinically applicable research. A sociopsychobiological framework for the application of placebo research is proposed as a way of harnessing and applying the research in routine clinical practice.