Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is Alternative and Integrative Healthcare?

    This is an evolving method of practice rather than a separate field in healthcare. The following principles are essential to a complete definition:

     

    • Patient or client-centered care
    • Encouragement of self-care and personal responsibility for health
    • Mind-body-spirit are conjoined and mutually essential to the healing of whole persons
    •  The goal of healthcare is not only the treatment of disease but promoting vibrant health, wellness, and the highest potential for human beings
    • Working together in collaborative partnership with other healthcare providers and the patient in interdisciplinary teams
    •  Openness to using alternative or complementary therapies with a record of safety and efficacy but which are outside of the conventional biomedical model
    • Application of evidence-based, critical thinking skills when integrating alternative therapies with conventional therapies
    •  Using natural, less invasive approaches whenever possible
    • Health and healing is individually determined and may be different for each person so a person may be "healed" without being cured
    • Integrative healthcare is more than a compilation of treatments or modalities; it is a way of viewing healthcare, often requiring a paradigm shift for the healthcare provider and/or patient

  • How do I talk to my patients' about alternative therapies?

    A good place to start learning about this is to read David M. Eisenberg, MD's Advising Patients who Seek Alternative Medical Therapies from the Annals of Internal Medicine, 1 July 1997. 127:61-69.

  • How do I find out about drug-herb interactions?

    Recommended resources:

  • What are the 5 majors of areas of complementary and alternative medicine?

    Alternative Medicine Systems
    are complete systems of theory and practice that have developed outside of the western medical approach.

    Mind-Body Interventions
    employ a variety of non-mainstream techniques intended to facilitate the mind’s capacity to affect bodily function and symptoms including:

    Biological-based Therapies
    include natural and biologically based practices, interventions, and products.

    Manipulative and Body Based Methods
    include methods based on manipulation and or movement of the body.

    Energy Therapies
    focus on energy fields originating from within the body (biofields) or those from other sources (electromagnetic fields).

  • Where should I go if I have more questions about integrative healthcare?

    Dr. Andrew Weil, of Weil Lifestyle LLC, runs a popular commercial site (http://www.drweil.com) for common questions and issues in this area. Widely known as a writer and educator in the field of integrative medicine, Dr. Weil’s answers are practical and up to date They are particularly helpful to the lay public. The professional audience can also learn a lot at this site, though evidence and research is not generally cited to support his responses.

     

    Another good resource is the National Center for Completementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health.