Integrative Medicine, Complementary Alternative Medicine and Health Round-up #51: January 2012
Written by John Weeks
Integrative Medicine, Complementary Alternative Medicine and Health Round-up #51: January 2012
Summary:IHPC publishes integrative care stakeholder report on Affordable Care Act ... Center for Practical Bioethics forms national group to promote Institute of Medicine pain blueprint ... Huffington Post publishes Top 10 lists for 2011 ... Grassroots efforts help protect National Prevention Fund ... Certified Professional Midwives get backing from Barney Frank ... Harkin and Hatch ask FDA to redraft guidance on New Dietary Ingredients ... Lori Knutson steps down from Allina/Penny George Institute position to lead The Marsh ... U Wisconsin free clinical module for hypothyroidism ... Huge drop off in number of CAM educational programs in Britain ... Chiropractors take battle over accreditation to the Department of Education ... Article examines standards debate in massage therapy ... University of Western States begins MS program in functional medicine ... Ted Kaptchuk featured in New Yorker article on placebo ... Chicago Tribune reporter goers after NCCAM ... Military turns to integrative medicine ... Dieticians in Functional Medicine established, sets standards ... After 8 years, IN-CAM begins charging dues ... Australian CAM-public health research organization reports exceptional year of growth ... Chiropractors call for presentations for public health conferences ... Carla Wilson, LAc, DAOM honored by SF Mayor Edwin Lee ... Joseph Pizzorno honored by Natural Products Association ...
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Policy
Led stakeholders conference on ACA
Report from IHPC Stakeholder Conference lays out priorities for federal
integrative care strategy under the Affordable Care Act
The long-awaited report of an integrative health policy summit has been published
by the Integrated Healthcare Policy
Consortium (IHPC). The outcomes from the 3-day gathering of a
multidisciplinary group of 60 leaders is entitled The Affordable Care Act and
Beyond: A Stakeholder Conference on Integrated Healthcare Reform.
The 54-page report includes recommendations from each of 6 work groups: Access
and Non-Discrimination; Integration in Practice; Comparative Effectiveness
Research and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute; The Healthcare
Workforce; Prevention and Wellness; and Current Procedural Technology (CPT)
Codes. Most were pegged to portions of the Affordable Care
Act (ACA) that directly include complementary medicine and
integrative health. The recommendations are summarized on pages 10-12. An
additional value of the document are the appendices, a series of IHPC
statements on key aspects of the ACA. Joining IHPC in convening the gathering
were The Institute for Integrative Health and Palmer
College. Hylands and Bastyr University provided additional financial
sponsorship.
Strategic steps on inclusion
Comment: Nearly 15 years ago US Senator Tom Harkin
told a group of individuals who would later become founders of IHPC that members
of Congress would value collaborative efforts from the integrative health
community on policy. This document is the first such declaration since the 2001
National Policy Dialogue to
Advance Integrated Health: Finding Common Ground. The
conference that produced this document was a tremendous meeting which I
attended under my Academic Consortium for Complementary Health Care (ACCAHC)
hat. The report is a blueprint for policy action. Like reports from
Institute of Medicine committees and other significant national summits, this
document needs organized activity to bring the recommendations to life. If you
are part of any organization, business, institution or professional group that
values integrative care, consider joining the other 12 entities that will help
move these recommendation as IHPC's Partners for Health.
Congratulations to IHPC chair Len Wisneski, MD
and his team for getting this report out.
Christopher: PAAINS organizer
Center for Practical Bioethics organizes national pain
initiative (PAAINS) to promote recommendations of the IOM's Blueprint
A
vision of integrative, multidisciplinary care is advanced through the Institute
of Medicine's 2011 Relieving Pain in America: A
Blueprint for Transforming, Prevention, Care, Education and Research.
Kansas City-based Center for Practical Bioethics
doesn't want this report to languish on a shelf, gathering dust. The Center,
directed by Myra Christopher, a member of the IOM panel that created the
Blueprint, is in the process of creating a Pain Action Alliance to Implement
a National Strategy (PAAINS). The campaign site lists the 18 organizations
involved in developing PAAINS. Work is presently underway to transform the
initiative into a formal alliance. The 11 organizations that have joined are here. The diverse
group ranges from a pharma company to the American Osteopathic Association toi
diverse pain-related clinical and research organizations, to a CAM
academic organization. Those interested in more information or
participation are asked to contact Christopher at
.
Integrative Top 10 for 2011
Huffington Post: Top 10 for Policy and Action plus a Top 11
Breakthroughs for integrative medicine
What is a field without an annual Top 10 list? The year the Huffington Post, the most significant popular media
source to espouse an integrative medicine editorial line, published two such
lists. The first was the Top 10 for Integrative Medicine
Policy and Action. This is a list traditionally posted at the Integrator Blog News & Reports. (Links to Top 10
lists for Policy and Top 10 People going back to 2006 are here.)
This Top 10 focuses on policy and payment-related developments that made 2011 a
very good year for integrative medicine. The Huffington Post editorial
team separately reviewed stories from their blog and produced 11 Integrative Medicine
Breakthroughs for 2011. The editorial team write that "it's
been a year of big breakthroughs for integrative medicine." They then
commence a slideshow of the breakthroughs. The first: "Yoga approved for
back pain."
Comment: The Huffington Post has more online readers than
the New York Times. A personal resolution for 2012 is to take the conversation
about the contributions of integrative health to this large audience. Go, take
a look, check out the comments, comment, become a fan.
Grassroots efforts helps maintain funding for National
Prevention and Public Health Fund On
December 15, 2011, the Integrator Blog News & Reports joined the American Public Health Association
and various national associations in a "National Day of Action to Protect
the Prevention Fund." The request came from Janet Kahn, PhD, LMT, a recent
presidential appointee to the Advisory Group on Prevention,
Health Promotion, Integrative and Public Health of the National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health
Council. Kahn is also immediate past director and senior policy
adviser to the Integrated Healthcare Policy Consortium. The
Council and its Advisory Group were created via the Affordable Care Act. The
Council's make-up represents the first US policy-level recognition that health
is a whole system and multi-agency concern. Involved in the Council are
agencies related to agriculture, transportation, education, energy and more,
together with Health and Human Services." The Advisory Group includes Kahn
and 3 other individuals from the integrative practice community. The Council
and make-up of the Advisory Group are each breakthroughs, and reason alone to
preserve this Fund.
The grassroots effort was effective. According to a December 23, 2011 note from
Michael Traub, ND, IHPC policy committee chair, legislation was passed
that fully funded the Prevention and Public Health Fund at $1-billion. Traub's
note added: "It is our understanding that the Community Transformation
Grant program will be funded at $280 million, a $135 million increase over FY
2011. A full funding chart should be available early this week." A
copy of the bill is here and joint
statement of the Congressional managers of the campaign to pass the legislation
is here.
Comment: Thanks to each of you who participated in the grassroots
effort. The whole system vision of health and its determinants that define the
Council represent a tremendous step that we must not only support but assist
Kahn and Dean Ornish, MD and their other integrative
colleagues on the Advisory Group to help
shape.
Certified Professional Midwives pick up Barney Frank as
co-sponsor on access bill
The Midwives and Mothers in Action (MAMA) campaign
announced that Congressman Barney Frank
(D-MA-4th) is the latest member of Congress to co-sponsor H.R. 1054,
the Access to Certified Professional Midwives Act of 2011. The act would allow
coverage of homebirth by Certified Professional Midwives under Medicaid
programs. The MAMA Campaign was successful in getting coverage of CPMs in birth centers
into the Affordable Care Act. Disclosure: I am a donor to the campaign
and, with my spouse and two children, a twice-grateful client of homebirth
midwifery services.
Natural Products
US Senator Orrin Hatch
Harkin and Hatch ask FDI to withdraw New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) draft
guidance
A notice from the American Herbal
Products Association (AHPA) on January 5, 2012 announced that U.S.
Senators Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa have asked the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) to immediately withdraw the agency's
"controversial draft guidance on new dietary ingredients" (NDIs). In
a letter
to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, MD, they request "a new draft that
will provide needed clarification on what constitutes an NDI, but does not
undermine the balance Congress struck in [Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA)] to
provide consumers with access to safe, affordable dietary supplement
products." In December, AHPA and other leading natural products industry
organizations all called for an overhaul of
the guidance document. AHPA president Michael McGuffin states: "This
request is in alignment with the position AHPA stated in our comments submitted
to the agency in December. We look forward to working with FDA to create new
guidance that is consistent with DSHEA and ensures that consumers will continue
to have access to safe, affordable dietary supplement products." Harkin
and Hatch are the principal authors of the DSHEA.
Integrative Care Delivery
Lori Knutson, RN, BC-HN
Lori Knutson, leader of the nation's most significant inpatient
integrative care initiative, leaves Allina for new position
"I am just starting to realize all that has occurred." So
reflected Lori Knutson, RN, BC-HN
in late December 2011 on her 9-year run as the leader of the nation's most
significant integrative care delivery initiative. The work began with creation
of an outpatient integrative center, the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing.
Shortly thereafter, Knutson led efforts to initiate care in Abbott Northwestern Hospital, with which the
Institute was affiliated. Analysis of outcomes on the over 7000 inpatient
visits found, among other things, over $2000 savings per inpatient.
Findings from a pilot project led to a major NIH grant. These data helped lead Allina Hospitals & Clinics, of which Abbott
is part, to announce a system-wide integrative medicine initiative. Knutson
took on the role as director of integrative health care.
In this ever-expanding process, Knutson and Allina became the nation's single
biggest employer of licensed acupuncturists and most significant health system
employer of massage therapists. To maintain a pipeline of qualified candidates
for these inpatient positions, Knutson and her team developed unique
educational intensives programs (see short article here) to
train-up these practitioners for an optimal role in the inpatient environment.
The team began a program to train integrative nurse leaders.
Throughout, Knutson, her team, and Allina have made these advances through the
generous support of psychologist and philanthropist
Penny George, her spouse Bill George, and their family foundation.
The Institute's 2010 Outcomes Report gives
a much more detailed look at the remarkable clinical, educational and research
work Knutson led. Via these combined initiatives, Knutson's group began to
build the case for the transformational pilot project for the nation that the
Georges seek to make of the Allina initiative. Knutson will take a new position
as president of The Marsh, A Center for Balance
and Fitness.
Comment: Normally an article like this would be under People.
Yet Knutson's exit from the Institute and Allina is news of a different order.
As a long-time observer of the challenges integrative initiatives face inside
resistant systems, I marvel at how Knutson has continuously moved this work.
Her leadership violates the core adage in hierarchical medicine that
"physicians only listen to physicians." Knutson never bought that.
Thus integrative medicine's most significant and influential initiative has
been guided not by a medical doctor but by a board certified holistic nurse.
Knutson grew to favor the term "integrative health care" over
"integrative medicine" as a more appropriate and inclusive
description of both the movement and of where the work should be headed. Now in
moving to the Marsh, she is headed "upsteam," as she put it in a
recent interview -- away from all the morbidity in the disease care system into
the health and wellness world. Her exit is a huge loss for Allina. What mix of
personnel will replace her? And what Knutson's fertile spirit will co-create with
her new team at The Marsh? Thanks, Lori, for your many contributions.
Academics
Surya Pierce, MD
University of Wisconsin offers clinician/patient information on integrative
approach to hypothyroidism
This freely access program is entitled "Integrative Treatment of
Hypothyroidism: Overview for Clinicians."Integrative doctor Surya Pierce, MD
created the PDF and video for clinicians and
a PDF for patients. In
the December 2011 newsletter of the Consortium of Academic Health
Centers for Integrative Medicine, David Rakel, MD, introduces the
resources this way: "There is much controversy about this condition,
particularly when the (thyroid stimulating hormone) is mildly abnormal. What
happens to endogenous thyroid hormone production if we start hormone too soon?
What can we recommend before starting thyroid hormone? Should we treat numbers
or symptoms? What should I know about nutrition and thyroid function? What
supplements or nutrients may help the body convert T4 to T3? Is there any
benefit to prescribing T3 with T4?"
Comment: A naturopathic colleague reviewed the material and said:
"Excellent. Looks like someone from the University of Wisconsin took the (Institute for Functional Medicine) training.
CAM programs disappearing
British schools drop degree programs in reflexology,
homeopathy, aromatherpay, others
According to an article in the London telegraph entitled Lie back and relax: reflexology
and aromatherapy degree are dropped, "the number of bachelor
and masters degrees in subjects such as reflexology, aromatherapy, acupuncture
and homeopathy has halved since 2007, from more than 40 to 21."
Starting this year, the study of homeopathy at a degree level will no longer be
available in a British university. Meantime, many of the surviving courses are
under review. The termination of the courses is attributed to "rising
tuition fees, a decline in applications and campaigns by scientists." A
half-decade ago things were different: "In 2007, when alternative medicine
was highly popular, 16 state-funded degree-awarding institutions were offering
42 fully accredited BSc/BA courses in 12 non-evidence-based forms of
medicine." One antagonist is given significant credit: "The closures
are partly the result of a campaign led by David Colquhoun, professor of pharmacology at
University College London, and the rationalist pressure group Sense about Science." Acupuncture and traditional
Chinese medicine are reported to be the programs that are likely to have the
most staying power.
Comment: This is an important development for integrative academics
in the U.S. to observe, especially given the parallel efforts of academics here
to shut down integrative programs in academic health centers. A difference in
the States is that most education to prepare one for the distinctly licensed
natural health care disciplines is through independent, private schools and
universities. The issue in this country will be whether we'll see dropping
enrollment and failure of colleges. Over the past decade, chiropractic has
shown such reduction in enrollment, and some school closures. (Thanks to Integrator
adviser Glenn Sabin for the tip
on this article.
Cherie Sohnen-Moe
Massage Today offers useful discussion of the
specialty certifications debate in the massage field
Massage Today recentlyfeatured a useful pulse-check on the
current state of the debate within the massage field over educational standards
and the field's future. The article by Kathryn Feather is entitled Massage Education's Future: Will
Advanced Degree programs Give Therapists Portability and the Respect of the
Allopathic Health Care Community? The lead voice in the article in
favor of advanced certification programs is Ruth Werner, president of the Massage Therapy Foundation. Werner argues that
"having advanced degrees available in massage therapy will open many doors
for us in the research world and in the public health policy world."
Consultant, author and business coach Cherie Sohnen-Moe raises concerns that massage
therapists may price their services out of the reach of many consumers if the
financial barrier to entry into the field is increased by raising program
standards. Individual states presently show wide variation in licensing
requirements. Texas requires just 500 hours and New York 1000, for example.
These variations limit portability of massage licenses from state to state. Sohnen-Moe
urges board specialty certifications rather than higher basic standards:
"I think the way to go about addressing the education issue is to have
specialty national certifications rather than advanced degrees. While I know
this is a difficult and expensive process, I really think it's the way to
go."
The
article includes additional useful basic information about the current state of
the massage field.
Jan Schwartz, MA
Comment from Integrator adviser Jan Schwartz, MA: I asked
Schwartz, a past president of the Commission on Massage Therapy
Accreditation, board member of MTF, and co-founder of online-focused
Education and Training Solutions, for her
perspective. She wrote: "Ideally, I would like to see a consortium of
schools, or even one school, design an in-depth program for people who already
have a bachelor's degree. That would allow the school(s) to truly teach in an
(evidence-informed practice) way from the beginning. The administrators would
already know that students had baseline communication skills in verbal and
written formats and had some critical thinking/reasoning skills. The school may
even require a basic anatomy and physiology course prior to entry. With a
strong set of competencies (not hours), students would learn what it takes to
be part of the healthcare system. The title Massage Therapist has already been
taken and because education is now all over the board, a new title would have
to be found, with the word massage in it. People who want to be massage therapists
and work with relaxation massage should be able to do that. But by the same
token, those who want to advance should have that opportunity in a way that
informs the public about the differences in the scope of practice. Right now we
are all perceived to be the same by the public. We need a culture change.
Schwartz adds, regarding a comment of Werner in the article, that
"starting a BS degree in schools could work too, but I don't see that
happening because there are too many corporate/investor driven schools in
massage therapy where the bottom line trumps education. It's easier to keep
someone in school for a year or less than it is for 4 years." She sums up:
"Currently massage is sitting in the foyer and waiting to be invited to
the health care table. Unless something changes in our education, I don't think
that is going to happen except in 'token' cases."
Joe Brimhall, DC, UWS president
Predominantly chiropractic University of Western States
initiates Masters of Science in Functional Medicine
Starting in April 2012, Portland-Oregon-based University of Western States (UWS),
will offer a Masters of Science in Nutrition
and Functional Medicine. The program, developed in collaboration the
Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM), is
described as a "unique partnership" between the two entities.IFM will
directly provide 4 required credits and up to 4 elective credits. Alex Vasquez, DC, ND, DO
was charged with program development and will also have the lead in delivering
it. According to the website, the program "will be delivered in a
distance-learning format using the University's online learning management
system." The total program consists of 50 quarter-credits of graduate
coursework (33 semester credits). UWS notes that a distinctive feature of this
nutrition program is that it "integrates standard Clinical Nutrition
subject material with the systems biology approach of Functional
Medicine."
Comment: The timing of this program is interesting in the context
of the battle over the future of the chiropractic field referenced in the
article in this Round-up about the chiropractic accrediting agency. UWS,
under the leadership of president Joe Brimhall, DC,
prefers the term "chiropractic medicine" to "chiropractic"
and "chiropractic physician" to "chiropractor." It will be
interesting to see both how many chiropractors, and non-chiropractors will be
drawn to this MS program. Credit IFM for another success in moving its program out
into academic centers.
Media
Ted Kaptchuk, OMD: placebo expert
Ted Kaptchuk's work on placebo is the subject of a New Yorker feature
The title of the article is "The Power of
Nothing: Could studying the placebo effect change the way we think about
medicine?" Featured is Ted Kaptchuk, OMD,
described as "the most knowledgeable person in the world on all matters
placebo" by a quoted NIH senior faculty member in bioethics. Kaptchuk, an
early colleague at Harvard with David Eisenberg, MD, began an acupuncture
practice in 1976. He has since terminated his practice as his study of the
placebo has increased. Kaptchuk offers a significant, practical twist on the
value of placebos. He references "a study that demonstrated that, without
a change in objective data, you still get incredible subjective
improvement ... So, is the Doctor supposed to say, 'Gee, the patient is really
feeling good, but I better ignore that and go by the numbers.'" Kaptchuk
believes that much of the antagonism to proactively using placebo is
"ethical judgment masquerading as science." Kaptchuk has recently
established an Institute to further the study of placebo.
Comment: This piece offers, among other things, an excellent brief
on the recent history of placebo. Somewhere in this placebo discussion is this
challenge for an evidence-informed practice: If a practitioner has excellent
evidence of the power of an approach to suppress a symptom, but only light
evidence of what it is that will move a person toward health, what is the
practitioner to choose? No wonder patients as well as practitioners are
willing to choose the unknown behind the screen rather than what's in the jar.
Trine Tsouderos: antagonistic toward NCCAM
Chicago Tribune author skewers NCCAM,
questions value in ongoing funding
The second half of December brought a holiday gift to the anti-CAM polarizers
who thrill to the idea of shutting down the NIH National Center for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). Award-winning Chicago
Tribune science and medical reporter Trine Tsouderos has a sense of responsibility to
objectively report on NCCAM that: 1) leads with aromatherapy, clairvoyants and
coffee enemas and the 2) moves directly to comments from long-time NCCAM
antagonists Wallace Sampson, MD and David Gorski, MD. The article, widely
picked up and re-published, is called "Federal center pays good
money for suspect medicine." The internet tab is "CAM:
Taxpayer money spent on studies with questionable scientific value."
Gorski goes after NCCAM's funding: "Lots of good science and good
scientists are going unfunded."
Berman: letter-to-editor response
The article subsequently includes comments from NCCAM director Josie Briggs, MD, and two of the Center's
researchers with the highest funding, Brian Berman, MD and Daniel Cherkin, PhD.
Each are presently on the NCCAM Advisory Council.
Berman posted a follow-up letter-to-the-editor on
December 16, 2011. He begins this way: "Trine Tsouderos' article on NCCAM
is off base. Applying rigorous research to evaluate therapies that are widely
used but not a part of mainstream medicine is not only a wise use of resources;
it is also good science and essential for providing optimal clinical
care."
Comment: Tsouderos appears to have known the story she wanted to
write before she began reporting it. The most-important choices for a
journalist are in what in broadsheet terms was called the "above the
fold" content. If one reads no further, that's the whole story. In the
internet format for a feature, the parallel is the first page, before one
decides whether or not to click through. Page 1 of the 4 devoted to this feature
is virtually all a rump caucus. Briggs is pinned to the wall before the readers
meet her. One recalls at moments like this that NCCAM could benefit from an
active "friends" organization to support it, and its ongoing funding,
in the way that such a group exists to back the Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality. Grassroots action may be
necessary to save NCCAM before long as federal budget worries and competition
at the NIH deepens.
Features in Wired and Huffington Post focus on
integrative health care in the military
The title of a December 23, 2011 feature in Wired magazine is Inside the Pentagon's Alt-Med
Mecca, Where the General's Meditate. The article, based in part on
presentations at a Samueli Institute October 2011 event, includes
significant coverage of the Institute's work. One revelation: "More than
half of the Institute's $13.5 million in annual funding is provided by
congressional funding (or 'earmarks') from the Department of Defense and
Veteran's Affairs." Huffington Post blogger Alison Rose Levy posted
another useful feature, Integrative Health Care: The New
Military Strategy. Levy's piece is based on the Integrative Medicine in Action
event sponsored by the Bravewell Collaborative in November 2011.
Organizations and Professions
At the center of chiropractic's identity issues
Chiropractors'
battle over accreditation standards reaches federal panel
The December 15, 2011 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education was
entitled Chiropractic Accreditor Gets
Special Scrutiny from Federal Panel. The article captured the
end-point of 3 years of debate inside the Council on Chiropractic Education
(CCE), the US Department of Education (DOE)-recognized accrediting body for
chiropractic education, over a revised set of accreditation standards. The
federal panel listened to 4 hours of debate before giving the CCE a minimum 1
year extension. CCE president David Wickes, MA, DC was
perceived by some to be fanning flames he was seeking to douse when he
published an 8-page Open Letter to the Profession
in early December. A release from the American Chiropractic Association after the DOE
hearing noted that the "dissenting opinions were expressed by several
groups and individuals, who cited concerns about CCE's leadership, performance
and its recently approved revision of chiropractic education standards."
The International Chiropractic Association led the opposition to
the CCE. Key issues broke over whether chiropractic should be called medicine
and whether the subluxation should continue to have a central role in
chiropractic education.
Comment: As soon as someone resolves the Middle East crisis we
should give them a shot at healing the rift in chiropractic. The CCE is
expected to remain in the hot-seat for the next 12 months. (Thanks to Integrator
adviser Jan Schwartz, MA for
the Chronicle link.)
Benefits from evidence module
Massage Therapy Foundation to benefit from new online
research course
Megan Klawitter, program manager for the Massage Therapy Foundation (MTF), sends notice
that a new online research course is now available that will benefit the MTF.
The course, entitled Basics of Research Literacy
(BRL),
is
a 6-hour workshop for massage therapists and educators about incorporating
principles of research literacy into practice and education. Information on the
BRL site underscores
that massage therapists who wish to work with health systems need to be able to
work in an "evidence-informed" way.
Comment: The MTF stimulates research in the field and produces a
top-flight research symposium every third year. The language on the site is
similar to that related to evidence-informed practice in the Competencies for Optimal Practice
in Integrative Environments.
Swift: Leading integrative, functional dietetics group
"Dietitians in Integrative and
Functional Medicine" founded, sets practice standards
Integrative dietician Kathie Swift, MS, RD, LDN
sends the following update: "The Dietitians in Integrative and
Functional Medicine (DIFM) is a specialty practice group of the Academy of Nutrition &
Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association). With
approximately 3,000 members, (the practice group is) comprised of Registered
Dietitians (RDs) who integrate whole-foods, supplements, mind-body modalities,
functional laboratory testing and nutritional genomics in practice. These
practices form the basis of 'integrative and functional medicine nutrition
therapy' (IFMNT)."
Swift continues: "DIFM has taken the lead by publishing the first formal Standards of Practice and
Standards of Professional Performance in the integrative and
functional medicine community. In addition, three integrative RD leaders from
the group published a Nutrition Care Radial to
serve as an instructional roadmap for the future education of dietitians in
integrative and functional medicine. Integrative RD's are nutrition change
agents and recently petitioned the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics for a
Board Specialty Certification in Integrative and Functional Nutrition."
The reference for Standards of Practice and Standards of Professional
Performance and the Radial is J Am Diet Assoc 2011;111:902-913.
Comment: This is yet another place where the functional medicine
model is being integrated into existing professional education. On a personal
note, I confess that I have special pleasure in seeing others create acronyms
(IFMNT) that are even worse than some with which I have been associated.
Asking members for dues
Canadian research network IN-CAM to begin charging dues as
part of a "sustainability" effort
The
8-year-old Canadian Interdisciplinary Network
for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research (IN-CAM) has
announced to members that it plans to begin requiring membership fees. Leaders
write: "The sustainability of IN-CAM is very important, therefore, we need
to implement initiatives and strategies to ensure IN-CAM's sustainability over
the next 10 years." The fees ($100 CND regular, $50 CND student, with
discounts for current members) are presented as a first step toward
sustainability. Those in the network who wish to stay must pay by February 28,
2012. IN-CAM has been funded to this date through government and philanthropic
support. One example was their creation of the Outcomes Database
honored as part of the Integrator Top 10 for 2008.
American Public Health Association
Network
of Researchers in the Public Health of CAM reports robust year in 2011
A December 2011 note from Jon Adams, executive director of the Network
of Researchers in the Public Health of Complementary and Alternative Medicine
(NORPHCAM) reports robust growth in the network to over 190members: "We
are very excited to see that the Network is attracting a widespread
international audience and that researchers, practitioners and policymakers are
committing to membership." The Austrialia-based, international
organization focuses on real world research that is "both practice and
policy relevant." The organization's executive team was involved in
publication of over 40 peer-review articles in 2011. For the prior 3 years,
external grant support "exceeded $6-million." Adams reports
"major inroads this year in gaining international external funding in
Canada and the US."
Comment: It is intriguing though not surprising that the
predominantly capitalist medical model in the United States did not produce an
integrative organization with such a public health focus. (Notably, neither did
the US system lead to creation of an interdisciplinary network as happened in Canada.)
Happily, the value of the public health-CAM linkage in the United States is
finally strengthening with the appointment of the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health
Promotion, Integrative and Public Health of the National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health
Council noted elsewhere in this Round-up.
Jon Adams, PhD
Chiropractic research to be presented at the 2012 APHA
Conference
Claire Johnson, DC, MSEd sends notice that the Chiropractic Health Care Section
of the American Public Health Association (APHA-CHC) invites abstracts for
presentation at the 2012 Annual Meeting to
be held in San Francisco, CA October 27 - 31, 2012. Johnson says that the
topics related to APHA's theme, "Prevention and Wellness Across the Life
Span" and in all areas related to public health and chiropractic health
care will receive high priority. Abstracts are limited to 250 words
and the submission deadline is February 10, 2012. Abstracts must be submitted
electronically through the APHA website. Michael
Schneider, DC, PhD is 2012 program chair for the Chiropractic Health Care
Section. Contact:
People
Wilson: honored in her transition
Carla Wilson, DAOM, LAc honored by San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee for clinic
leadership
Bastyr founding president and IMCJ editor Joseph Pizzorno, ND to receive
industry award
InnoVision Professional Media, the publishers of Integrative Medicine: A Clinician's Journal (IMCJ),
sent an announcement January 5, 2012 that Joseph Pizzorno, ND "has been selected by
the Natural Products Association (NPA) to receive the
association's annual clinician award." The announcement continues:
"The award is presented to a licensed healthcare professional whose work
'exemplifies the best standards and dedication to responsible holistic,
non-invasive, and integrative, complementary, and alternative medicine
modalities.'" Pizzorno has one of the most distinguished resumes in the integrative
practice world. Among his current involvements, in addition to editor of the IMCJ,
is his founding of Salugenecists. Pizzorno
is also directly involved in the industry as chair of the scientific advisory
board of Bioclinic Naturals. The NPA
announcement is here. Two other individuals associated with Bastyr will also be honored will be Leanna Standish, PhD, LAc, ND and Miochael Murray, ND.
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