Recently, Newsweek ran an in-depth analysis/report on what is becoming quite a trend in the western medical community, Integrative Care. Considering that integrative medicine is why I got into herbalism in the first place, it gives me great joy to see this topic so prevalent in the media today.
Integrative medicine gets back to the heart of what healing arts should be. I almost said, "what they were", but that would be an untrue statement for Western medicine. A general lack of respect and trust has been expressed on all sides of the table towards other practitioners and professionals for the past thousand years or so. No, integrative medicine doesn't put us back on good terms with one another; we were never there. But it does provide us with a good roadmap of how we can help clients and patients make the best personal healthcare choices.
I think everyone would agree with me when I say that sick people want nothing more than to feel better. As a health care professional and a compassionate fellow human, I naturally want to help them in any way that I can. But am I the best choice? As an herbalist, am I equipped or qualified to deal with every case the comes before me? Of course not. If the next knock on my door were a gunshot victim, I'd do him better service by calling 911 as opposed to trying to staunch the flow of blood with Yarrow or offering some pain relieving tincture. Conversely, doctors shouldn't be treating winter colds and flu bugs with antibiotics, they should be referring most of them to a qualified herbalist. An acupuncturist might better serve asthmatic patients, and tai chi might be just the thing for the poor soul suffering from fibromyalgia.
But how is the patient or client to know? At the moment, they have pain, the sniffles, labored breathing, abdominal pains, copious sweating… and they just want it (or them) to stop. Should we provide some type of Quick Reference Guide to direct them to the proper practitioner? Maybe set up a 1-800 hotline to point them in the right direction. Surely I jest. Well yes, as a matter of fact I do. With integrative medicine, they do what they would normally do; call or go see the person who they think can make them feel better. But it's quite possible the person they call or chose to visit may suggest alternate pathways in the best interest of the client, allowing them to make their own decisions.
In this newfound world of respect, all health professionals are completely comfortable with the arenas they are most qualified to help, while simultaneously being keenly aware of the other affiliated practitioners and their areas of expertise. Even the insurance companies have pulled their collective heads out of their neither regions, understanding that it's more cost effective (not to mention the right thing to do) to cover the referral to a holistic professional rather than pay for ineffective office visits and unnecessary medication.
Gone is the infighting, jealously and near-constant finger pointing. In it's place we find mutual understanding, respect and a commonality that seems to have been forgotten somewhere along the way-- the well being of the client/patient. It's the reason we got into this field in the first place, isn't it?
This is why I've chosen to establish my clinic in Cottonwood, Arizona. It's a small enough town to get to know the majority of the medical doctors, chiropractors, specialists and naturopaths, yet big enough to draw on a sizeable population. Holistic healthcare is enjoying a sort of renaissance here in Northern Arizona, having everything to do with the proximity to Sedona. People here (and other places) want this, of that I'm absolutely certain. I hope to be the catalyst that provides it for them. I'll let you know how it goes…