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Integrative Medicine, Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Health Round-up #77: March 2014 |
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Written by John Weeks
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Integrative Medicine, Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Health Round-up #77: March 2014Policy
-Department
of Defense report to Congress details military use of CAM therapies and
practitioners
-NCMIC Foundation supports presence of licensed integrative practitioners in
the nation's workforce debate
-Anti-discrimination petition filed at
Change.org by expectant mother seeking a midwife; IHPC endorses, and KHN covers
 Military report on CAM use
Integrative Clinics
-An ND-LAc shares experience as a Medicaid-covered practitioner for Healthpoint
FQHC
-Academic integrative centers in Ohio open doors to TCM
-Boise's St. Alphonsus Medical Center
begins referral service for prenatal yoga therapy
-Manahan and Snider respond to article
on the Secret Sauce and Positive Side-Effects Via Whole Person Integrative
Medicine
Academic Integrative Medicine
-Bastyr teaching clinic ranks among the top among all Puget Sound primary care
clinics
-Consortium
publishes standards for competencies for integrative medicine fellowships
-Southwest College of Naturopathic
Medicine receives
award from Tempe Chamber of Commerce
Professions and Organizations
-National acupuncture association and president Michael Jabbour taken to task
in "AAAOM - Making Promises it Can't Keep"
-Holistic medical organizations AHMA and ABIHM link together in new Academy of Integrative
Health and Medicine
-ACAM
grants first physician membership and advisory position to chiropractor, CTCA's
James Rosenberg, DC
 Holistic org merges into new entity
-International College of Integrative Medicine offers $20,000 planning grant
for a major chelation study
-Naturopathic profession's organ, Natural Medicine Journal, publishes
special oncology issue
-From "drugless" to "drug-free" - American Chiropractic
Association endorses position of Chiropractic Summit
-National, multidisciplinary certification
for health coaches advances
Books
-Holistic nurse Lucia Thornton, BC-HN publishes Whole Person Caring
-Norton publishes Scott Shannon, DO's Mental
Health for the Whole Child
People & Awards
-James Gordon, MD and Tieraona Lowdog, MD receive 2014 awards from the
Integrative Healthcare Symposium
-Jerrilyn Cambron, DC, PhD elected president of the Massage Therapy Foundation
-American Botanical Council and American Herbal Products Association announce
2014 awards
-Payment expert Anthony Hamm, DC elected president of the American Chiropractic
Association
_______________________________
Policy
Department of Defense report to Congress details military use of CAM
On January 8, 2014, the U.S. Department of Defense submitted
required testimony to U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) that "explains
the criteria used to evaluate integrative medicine programs, the results of
those evaluations and the number of people receiving services, by branch of service
and location." The 24-page document includes the following summary
information.
-
FINDINGS: The review found that 120 Military
Treatment Facilities (MTFs), 99 in the continental United States (CONUS) and
21outside the continental United States (OCONUS), offer a total of 275
complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) programs. Active duty (AD)
military members used 213,515 CAM patient visits in calendar year (CY) 2012
with the most visits for chiropractic care (73%) and acupuncture therapy (11%).
In addition, the United States Army (USA) Medical Research and Materiel Command
(MRMC) funds CAM related research to identify safe and effective therapies to
treat MHS patients.
-
EVALUATION: Various assessment tools are being
utilized by many of the sites offering CAM therapies. Patient
assessment/feedback, qualitative assessment by the provider, pre- and
post-appointment questionnaires, patient satisfaction questionnaires, and
measurement of physical improvement are being used to evaluate the CAM therapies
offered to AD military members. Patients reported improvement in symptoms,
reduction in anxiety, improved sleep and decline in psychological symptoms
across the CAM modalities in use.
- CONCLUSION: There is wide-spread use of CAM
therapies across the MHS. Providers and patients were interested in using CAM
therapies even though many are not evidence-based. Some providers have added
CAM therapies as an adjunct to conventional therapies for a holistic approach
to patient management.
- RECOMMENDATIONS: ...The MHS will evaluate CAM
programs for safety and effectiveness, as well as cost-effectiveness. As
resources allow, the Department will consider widespread implementation in the
MHS of cost-effective CAM programs meeting TRICARE guidelines for safety and effectiveness.
Comment:
It
is common in integrative health and medicine circles to say that the military
is leading the way. Some even suggest that wounded warriors will break down conventional
medicine's barriers to inclusion in the way that the HIV-AIDs community shifted
FDA's slow-moving acceptance practices. (Think Military Buyer's Club.) Findings
on the number of facilities where selected therapies are found include:
chiropractic (59), acupuncture (83), massage (9), yoga (11), clinical nutritional
therapy (68), naturopathic medicine (1), breath therapies, biofeedback (13),
and meditation (14). (Thanks to Joan Walter of the Samueli Institute for the
link.)
 Strategic investment in workforce inclusion
NCMIC Foundation supports presence of licensed integrative practitioners at AAMC in the
nation's workforce debate
The 10th
Annual Health Workforce Research Conference of the American Association of
Medical Colleges will have a new presence, thanks to a visionary grant from the
NCMIC Foundation. The grant, to
the Academic Consortium for Complementary and
Alternative Health Care (ACCAHC), will allow the organization to be present
and exhibit at the gathering of workforce leaders. In addition, the
organization will be able to print and make available to the 150-200 workforce
policy leaders hard-copies of its highly-regarded white paper Meeting the Nation's Primary
Caree Needs: Current and Prospective Roles of Doctors of Chiropractic and
Naturopathic Medicine, Practitioners of Acupuncture and Oriental Medeicine, and
Direct-Entry Midwives. Notably, the meeting is the AAMC's first that
focuses broadly on the "health workforce" rather than merely the
needs for medical doctors and osteopaths.
 Goldstein - co-lead on ACCAHC paper
Comment: NCMIC and the NCMIC Foundation have a long history of investing
in forward thinking and visionary projects, including kick-starting the field
of chiropractic research a half-century ago and its more recent series of
reports on chiropractic's future. This grant is timely. Chiropractors and other
licensed integrative health and medicine practitioners are formally included as
part of the professionals to be considered in U.S. workforce planning under the
Affordable Care Act (see
Section 5101, here). ACCAHC has prioritized inserting the 350,000 licensed
practitioners, who presently are already relieving a portion of the Nation's
primary care burden, into proactive consideration in the workforce dialogue. In
addition, the white paper, co-led by Michael
Goldstein, PhD, a senior researcher at the UCLA Center for Health Policy
Research, and this writer, has
been called by workforce expert Richard "Buz" Cooper, MD
"the best compendium of thoughtful analysis and information on these
disciplines that exists. I admire the scholarship of this document." NCMIC
Foundation is supporting a tremendous opportunity to leap-frog into the
consciousness of workforce leaders.
Anti-discrimination petition filed at Change.org by expectant mother seeking
coverage of licensed midwife; IHPC endorses, and KHN covers
When expectant mother Stephanie Taylor learned that her desired practitioner
for her birth process, a licensed midwife, was not covered by her health plan
as she expected under the Non-Discrimination in Healthcare, Section
2706 of the Affordable Care Act, she filed a petition at Change.org. Abide
by the Law (Section 2706) and Stop Discriminating was quickly endorsed by the Integrative
Healthcare Policy Consortium. As of this writing the petition had garnered 2010
of the 10,000 signatures needed to get on the government's radar. In an e-note
to interested parties, Taylor writes: "Since our last contact, my appeals
have been rejected 2 more times. One from the Department of Managed Health Care
and again from Blue Shield of California. In both instances I specifically
appealed based on the Harkin Amendment. Both groups rejected my appeal without
once even mentioning the Harkin Amendment. In fact, during this entire process
I have not once been able to get any agency to address this law. They all seem
to want to act like it doesn't exist, which since they are breaking it, I guess
they are setting up their argument to be ignorance." Meantime, Taylor managed
to capture the attention of Kaiser Health News (KHN), which published Health
Law Provides No Guarantees Of Access To Midwives, Birthing Centers on March
4, 2014.
Comment: Never underestimate the power of an expectant mother. Taylor
spoke with me after seeing my Huffington
Post piece on Non-Discrimination:
A 'Big Honking Lawsuit' to Advance Integrative Medicine and Health?
Take a moment, click in to her site above, and go sign. No harm. Perhaps some
good! This is terrific citizen action. Meantime, the KHN piece is a significant
mainstream piece on 2706.
Integrative Clinics
 FQHC site of expanding ND practice
ND-LAc recounts experience as Medicaid-covered practitioner for Washington FQHC
Healthpoint
In a recent article in the newsletter
for the Washington Association of Naturopathic Physicians, Chris Krumm, ND,
LAc recounts developments in his 7 years of service as a practitioner in two Healthpoint clinics during which time
his scope of practice as a naturopathic physician expanded and Medicaid opened
coverage of his naturopathic services. Krumm notes that "many of my
patients are Hispanic and prefer to use a natural medicine approach, but they
will use conventional medicine when really needed or when a natural option is
unaffordable." The Medicaid coverage began January 1, 2014. Writes Krumm: "Just a few weeks into Medicaid coverage,
I've already seen an increase in pediatric visits, and patients previously  Krumm: new role in Medicaid
lost
due to Medicaid barriers are beginning to come back. I've seen more walk-in
patients, more acute triage patients, and more of Medicaid's most difficult
patients - those on disability." Healthpoint,
the former Community Health Centers of King County, led by Tom Trompeter,
MHA, presently is a network of 11 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs).
Trompeter's
reflections on integrative medicine in a patient-centered "health"
home are here.
Comment: Krumm's statement that Hispanic patients would "prefer"
his services certainly will come as a surprise to wonks who, since the
Eisenberg study in 1993, have viewed "naturopathic" and "integrative"
services as choices of the wealthy. Krumm seems to suggest a strong preference
for his approach that is now kicking in big time as his naturopathic services
can be covered.
 Herb company chosen in both sites
Academic Integrative Centers in Ohio open doors to Traditional Chinese Medicines
The Cleveland Plain Dealer recently
reported that there is a Chinese Herbal Therapy Clinic at the Center
for Integrative Medicine at Cleveland Clinice and that this month Chinese
herbal medicine consultations began at University Hospitals Ahuja Medical
Center via the Connor
Integrative Medicine Network. The opening of these services followed
passage of a law licensing acupuncturists in the state. According to the
report, Massachusetts-based Crane Herbs is one of three sources of TCM products
at the Connor site while it is the company of choice at Cleveland Clinic. The
services are embraced as complements by integrative internist Melissa Young, MD
who called the availability of Chinese herbal therapy "an incredible step
for patient care," adding: "The beauty of it - it's so
complementary."
 Jones: persistence creates program
Boise's St. Alphonsus Medical Center begins referral service for prenatal
yoga therapy
Boise, Idaho Yoga therapist Jennifer Knight, ERT
200, RYT 500 and Naomi Jones of Idaho
Health and Yoga Awareness were the catalysts but the decision of St.
Alphonsus Medical Center to endorse prenatal yoga therapy came via a personal
experience of Mary
Janowiak, MD, an OB/GYN at the medical center. Janowiak did prenatal yoga
with her own baby and, according to the
article here, "thinks it's all those head and hand stands at 36 weeks
that flipped her baby head-down; otherwise she would have needed a caesarean
section." Janowiak is presently handing a referral card to her
patients "referring them to prenatal yoga at the Yoga Tree, or the
Birkeland Maternity Center in Nampa." Janowiak believes that an
"expansion of yoga offerings will benefit the overall health of the
population." She notes that: "We're all concerned about the
direction our country is going. Having one more program (like this) to
emphasize health is better than just taking care of people when they get
sick." Jones wrote in a note to the Integrator
that "we are planning to expand the 'yoga referral' to include other
special populations in the future such as obesity, diabetes, low back pain,
asthma."
Comment: Kudos to Knight, Jones and to Janowiak. Integration and health
creation advances one relationship at a time. (Thanks to the IHPC's Alyssa
Wostrel for the link.)
 Manahan: ingredients in the sauce
Manahan and Snider respond to article on the Secret Sauce and Positive Side-Effects Via Whole Person Integrative
Medicine
The article published in the Integrator,
the
Huffington Post and in Alternative
Medicine, Secret
Sauce and Positive Side Effects in Treatment Via Whole-Person Integrative
Medicine, elicited two useful responses from Integrator editorial advisers. The first is from holistic and
integrative medicine leader Bill
Manahan, MD and the second from Pamela Snider, ND, founder
and executive editor of the Foundations
of Naturopathic Medicine Project.
Here is Manahan: "Nice article
in the Huff Post. For a number of years, I have been teaching the medical
students something like that. Here is what I teach them. In chronic care,
outpatient, primary care medicine, there are three important elements that
help patients get better.
1. About one-third of how well your patient does depends on the
practitioner's presence. By that I mean how
physically, emotionally, and spiritually attuned is the practitioner.
Are we connected with our spiritual essence, and are we embracing our
energetic and infinite nature?
2. About one-third of how well your patient does depends on the
practitioner's intention. By that I mean, how compassionate, forgiving,
listening, and loving are we when we are with that patient?
3. About one-third of how well your patient does depends on what therapeutic
option you use. By that I mean is this the right person and the right
problem to use a pharmaceutical, a herb, some mind/body exercises,
Chinese Medicine, nutritional advice, or one of multiple
other "treatments."
 Snider: more on the "secret sauce"
Manahan adds: "I tell them they will be amazed how often all they need to
do with patients are the first two. That stimulates the healing
potential of each person, and many patients will return in a few weeks
doing much better - and you have not yet begun your 'treatment
options.'"
Here is Snider: "EXCELLENT
article-great thesis John!!! Love that secret sauce, very tasty. Nice featuring
of your esteemed wife and thought processes. That holistic care in the ‘sauce'?
It is based on the understanding in naturopathic medicine that all diseases are
one disease (the ill patient) and are fundamentally based on a violation of
natural laws of healthy physiology-poor health and 'disease' is developed by
disrespecting what determines health- the determinants of health Therapeutic
Order, Level One."
Snider continues: "We ND's look at the totality of the equation (Zeff,
Snider, Mitchell) of health promoting (+) and disturbing (-) factors, and get
the plus signs to overpower the minus signs...builds vitality, stimulates vital
force and triggers the innate healing response (VMN) and whammo. You are
treating disease by restoring 'the health.' Lindlahr called this (1913) The
Philosophy of the Unity of Disease and Cure, through Nature Cure and Clark
(Australia) 1925 called this "The Unity of Cause and Cure Through Nature
Cure."
Academic Integrative Medicine
Bastyr teaching clinic ranks in the top
among all Puget Sound primary care clinics
A
report card from the Washington Health
Alliance once again found that, from the perspective of "patient
experience," the Bastyr Natural Health Center ranks among the top of all
primary care facilities in the northwest. The study is entitled Your
Voice Matters: Patient Experience with Primary Care Providers in the Puget
Sound Region, 2014 Community Checkup Overview. The clinics were rated on
four categories: timeliness, care and appointments; provider communication;
courteousness of office staff; and the patient's "overall rating of the
provider." In all areas, Bastyr ranked among the top performers. The WHA says
that "effective communication between
provider and patient is the most critical element of the patient's experience."
This was the second report card in a row in which Bastyr's patients ranked the
facility highly. Bastyr's release on the report is
here.
Comment: I don't
suppose the anti-CAM and anti-naturopathic medicine "science-based
prejudice" writers will decide to pick up on this evidence (a priori - by its positive outcomes for
naturopathic care - "non-scientific") and publish it to their audience. Congrats
to the Bastyr team. This is great evidence of how integrative health values, practices and disciplines can serve in meeting the Triple Aim.
 CAHCIM: fellowship standards in integative medicine
Consortium
publishes standards for competencies for integrative medicine fellowships
Leading educators in the Consortium of
Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine (CAHCIM) have published,
in the prominent journal Academic
Medicine, a paper entitled Developing and implementing
core competencies for integrative medicine fellowships. The paper, led by
Melinda Ring, MD and Victor Sierpina, MD, is the result of a two-year CAHCIM
commitment in 2010 to draft integrative medicine fellowship core
competencies. The authors note that currently13 clinical fellowships in
integrative medicine exist in the United States.
Comment: The publication and the CAHCIM project behind it are each
timely. The integrative MD field is in what is expected to be the first year of
test-taking for "Board Certification in Integrative Medicine" through
the American Board of Physician Specialties. Those certified must already be
certified in another MD specialty and then complete a recognized
fellowship or a residential, US Department of Education-accredited program
to become a licensed acupuncturist, chiropractic doctor or naturopathic
physician.
Southwest
Colleges of Naturopathic Medicine receives 2014 Business Excellence Award from
Tempe Chamber of Commerce
Southwest
College of Naturopathic Medicine received the 2014 Business Excellence Award from the Tempe Chamber of Commerce on
February 28, 2014. A statement from the
college includes this from Mary Ann Miller, CEO of the Tempe Chamber: "The
Business Excellence Awards recognize outstanding businesses in our community. Southwest
College of Naturopathic Medicine is an amazing company dedicated to their
customers, their staffs and the community. We are proud they're part of
the Tempe Chamber, and we celebrate their continued success." The release notes that the award recognizes
SCNM for its "innovation, growth and commitment to the community" including "
many educational and patient care ‘firsts' [such as] a revised cutting-edge
curriculum, the industry's first job board, NDjoblink.com, and moving the
teaching clinic to electronic medical health records." SCNM has also broken ground on a new 47,000 sq. foot
building on the campus with a naturopathic pain/rehabilitation clinic,
teaching kitchen, open-to-the-public library, healthy café, fitness area, and
space for public courses.
 Mittman: SCNM president
Comment: Such an award
is not only an honor and brag-point for the college. In this case, it comes via
a multi-year commitment of SCNM president Paul Mittman, ND, EdD to
participation with his local chamber. It also signifies a kind of community
arrival. The institution is honored for its business practices and values,
rather than specifically for its medicine and health care. Sometimes such a
back door entrance of the medicine into consciousness can be the shortest
distance to increased recognition of the institution's broader healthcare
mission.
Professions and Organizations
 Organization collapsing
Acupuncture association president Michael Jabbour taken to task in "AAAOM
- Making Promises it Can't Keep"
The present dire situation at the American Association of Acupuncture and
Oriental Medicine (AAAOM) has led Acupuncture
Today publisher Donald Peterson to take the leaders of the national
organization for the licensed acupuncture field to task. In AAAOM -
Making Promises it Can't Keep, Peterson begins by noting that in the last
four years membership has dwindled by 50%, approximately 690 to 341, and
revenues by 60% ($605,000 to $243,000). Five board members and an executive
director recently departed. AAAOM president Michael Jabbour, MS, LAc attributes
this to "a differing of opinions on the current top priorities:
legislation and a unified competency model."
Peterson locates the source of dissension in Jabbour's lap. He cites resignation
letters that speak of an "uncomfortable and controlled board environment
coupled with a lack of healthy discussion and collaboration among board members
limiting the ability to move projects forward." According to the article,
only 341 of the profession's 30,000+ licensed practitioners (1%) have chosen to
become AAAOM members. The article notes that the profession's journal editor
has not been paid and recently resigned and that the AAAOM has not held an
annual meeting since 2010. Peterson concludes: "These issues paint a
tragic picture about the current status of the AAAOM leadership and the impact
it is having on the profession. Other health care professions are competing in
the race for health care reform, while the AAAOM stands motionless on the
sidelines embroiled in power plays and exclusionist behavior."
 Jabbour: challenged administration
Comment: The AAAOM website presently (March 9, 2014) greets one with the following:
"We are aware of an article published in Acupuncture Today about the
status of the AAAOM. The article includes many errors, unsubstantiated claims
and may be slanderous to AAAOM volunteers. The AAAOM is in the process of
drafting a response to the article." As an observer of the organization
and its leadership, my view is that Peterson has performed a service with this
exacting account, which he based in part on interviews with Jabbour and the
individual who is supposed to succeed him, Joshua
Saul, MAcOM, LAc. The one significant place where I would amend Peterson's story
is merely to reference that the national professional association activity of
this profession has been a mess and battleground for at least two decades.
Problems with organizing acupuncturists and getting them to see the value in a
coordinated national effort pre-date
Jabbour's divisive reign in what appears, via this article, to be one of a sort of CAM-noir terror. Certainly a good starting
place for healing would be, to steal a phrase from the naturopathic profession,
"remove the obstacles to cure." Jabbour and those devoted to him should
exit.
 Merging with AHMA into new entity
Holistic medical organizations AHMA and ABIHM link together in new Academy of
Integrative Health and Medicine
A recent issue of the newsletter of the American Holistic Medical
Association includes a column by
president Molly Roberts, MD and another
by executive director Steve Cadwell that detail a significant move in the
organizational foundation for activity in the field of integrative and holistic
medicine. Write Roberts: "Our American Holistic Medical Association is in the midst of an
ongoing evolution, one closely linked with the evolution of the American Board of Integrative Holistic
Medicine as the two become one entity called the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine (AIHM).
Cadwell writes: "In December, the AHMA Board of Directors endorsed the
creation of the new Academy and signed off on a Letter of Intent with the American Board of Integrative Holistic
Medicine to outline how the sister organizations might go about joining
forces and/or to identify how else the two might align for mutual support and
benefit."
Comment: These developments, with which I have been involved as an
adviser, are part of the formation of a fascinating new entity in the
integrative health and medicine space. I will be reporting on developments in
greater length soon. Stay tuned!
 CTCA's Rosenberg: First chiropractor advising ACAM
ACAM grants first physician membership to chiropractor, CTCA's James Rosenberg,
DC, and names him to advisory board
The American College for the Advancement of Medicine (ACAM) has announced that it has
appointed James
Rosenberg, DC, the national director of chiropractic for Cancer Treatment
Centers of America, to its Advisory Board. The February 27, 2014 ACAM press
release notes that Rosenberg is the first chiropractic physician to be
appointed to the board and that he is the first chiropractic member. Rosenberg
"uses chiropractic treatment to relieve stress and pain in the muscles,
bones and joints of cancer patients." Rosenberg earned his chiropractic
degree from National University of Health Sciences and serves on the Integrative Practice Council
of the American Chiropractic Association.
 Smart ICIM investment
International College of Integrative Medicine offers $20,000 planning grant for
a major chelation study
The International College of Integrative
Medicine (ICIM) is offering a grant of $20,000 to stimulate further
research on chelation therapy to treat vascular disease and/or diabetic
complications. The Grant will be called the James P. Carter Memorial Grant for
EDTA Chelation Research. According to a February 19, 2014 e-news note, the
funds are to be used to plan a significant study. Applicants must submit an
explanation of their proposal including such things as "the likelihood of a
successful outcome based on previous studies, the possibilities for funding of
the entire study, and involvement of experienced researchers and clinicians."
The deadline for proposals is May 31, 2014.
Comment: Looks like a smart strategic move to support research that will
build on recent
positive outcomes. It is particularly valuable to support research
proposals by those who you know, ahead of time, are seeking to create the
"likelihood of a successful outcome based on previous studies."
Rarely is such objectivity so explicitly solicited. Credit ICIM for its
strategic decision to offer this grant, if not for any diplomacy in its public
message.
 NMJ's oncology issue with Greenlee
Naturopathic profession's organ, Natural
Medicine Journal, publishes special oncology issue
The Natural Medicine Journal, the
official journal of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP),
has published a Special
Issue: Oncology. The issue begins with an interview with Columbia
University's Heather
Greenlee, ND, PhD, recently elected to head the Society for
Integrative Oncology and ends with a discussion with Heather
Zwickey, PhD at the Helfgott Institute at National College of Natural
Medicine, on chemotherapy-induced immuno-suppression. In opening comments,
publisher Karolyn Gazella calls the issue "the collaboration critical to
bring about the seismic shift that must occur in cancer research and
prevention."
Comment: As a person disposed to focus more on naturopathic medicine's
potential value as a model of primary care -- the original integrative medicine
as Tracy Gaudet,
MD has honored it -- I find it fascinating how much the field has made a
name for itself at the other end of things, in cancer treatment. Greenlee may
be the first ND to head SIO but it won't be long until there is a second. Her
colleague Suzanna
Zick, ND, MPH, at the University of Michigan, is the integrative cancer organization's
president-elect.
From "drugless" to "drug-free" - American Chiropractic
Association endorses position of Chiropractic Summit
In a recent meeting of its House of Delegates, the American Chiropractic
Association endorsed
a profession-wide statement, from the Chiropractic
Summit, that chiropractic is a "drug-free approach." The shift
from "drugless" to "drug-free" is captured here: "When the
[Summit] first approached the task, it realized that the profession could not
legitimately use the word 'drugless' to describe itself. Surprised? It makes
sense when you consider the FDA classifies the use of certain vitamins and
supplements to treat a condition a form of drug use. With so many doctors of
chiropractic using nutritional therapy to help their patients, it was obvious
to even the most conservative among us that 'drug-free approach' more
accurately describes what we all do."
Comment: Fascinating step and media release. My father, a somewhat salty
fellow from a small town in Southern Idaho, used to reference certain
professionals who enjoyed "separating fly shit from pepper." The chiropractors'
clarifying language feels a bit like that even though internally this
endorsement symbolizes what must be a significant, negotiated agreement. The average Joe or Suzy is not going to see a
difference between "drug-free" and "drug-less." I am not sure I
understand myself. Yet the awareness of the use of natural pharmaceuticals is
clearly an acknowledgement of present clinical and organizational practices in
a profession for which nearly every significant initiative is sponsored by
supplement manufacturer Standard
Process.
 Jordan: part of team moving the coaching agenda
National, multidisciplinary certification for health coaches via NCCHWC advances
The National Consortium for Credentialing Health
and Wellness Coaches keeps advancing in its step-wise way toward national,
multidisciplinary standards for the field. According to a recent newsletter
from Meg
Jordan, PhD, RN, CWP, from the California Institute for Integral Studies, a
workgroup for a "Job Task Analysis" for the emerging field will gather
in Indianapolis on March 15-16, 2014. A 12-member panel consisting of educators
and coaches will have two days "to figure it all out." Jordan calls
this "the critical first step in advancing the standards in the health
coaching field." Jordan is on the organization's board of directors.
Comment: The idea of a discipline-neutral, shared "ownership" of a
health coaching credential is a terrific opportunity to foster
interprofessionalism as well as to move a field that is focused on the
engagement strategies on which profound reform of the medical industry, toward
a system that focuses on health creation, depends. Credit Jordan and the rest
of the team for continuing to persevere to bring these standards forward.
Books
 New from holistic nurse Thornton
Holistic nurse Lucia Thornton publishes Whole
Person Caring
Integrator advisor and
integrative-holistic medicine pioneer Bill Manahan, MD, says of Whole
Person Caring: An Interprofessional Model for Healing and Wellness:
"Finally, a book that puts together what health and healing are really all
about! It describes simply, thoroughly, and brilliantly how to achieve
well-being through whole-person caring. This book will change how we view
health, and it will help create healing for both patients and providers. I
loved this book." The author is Lucia
Thornton, MSN, RN, AHN-BC, a long-time consultant and leader in the
holistic nursing field. The "whole person caring" model Thornton
describes, and which she helps systems adopt, is said to be a key factor in the
success of Three Rivers Hospital in
receiving the 2004 Norman Cousins Award from the Fetzer Institute.
 Shannon's latest
ntegrative pediatrician Scott Shannon, DO's Mental Health for the Whole Child published by Norton
Integrative psychiatrist Scott Shannon, DO operates what may be the country's
largest and most comprehensive integrative mental health clinic, Wholeness Center: a place for collaborative
care in Fort Collins, Colorado. The 30-year clinician has recently seen
published, via Norton, Mental
Health for the Whole Child: Moving Young Children from Disease and Disorder to
Balance and Wellness. The book's
core is Shannon's learning from his extensive clinical practice. This knitted
together by a mix of evidence and philosophy. Marketing copy for Shannon 's
book refer to it as a "guidebook" that "creates a theoretical
foundation for integrative mental health that acknowledges the power of new
discoveries like epigenetics and neuroplasticity." Shannon is immediate
past president of the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine and
an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of
Colorado-Children's Hospital in Denver.
Comment: One distinguishing feature of Shannon's work is the depth of his
commitment to interprofessionalism and his respect for other disciplines. An
unusual and possibly unique manifestation of Shannon's commitment is that the
co-owners of his Wholeness Center include both mental health and naturopathic medical
professionals.
People & Awards
 Lowdog: leadership award from IHS
James
Gordon, MD and Tieraona Lowdog, MD receive 2014 awards from the Integrative
Healthcare Symposium
The increasingly robust, interprofessional gathering, the Integrative
Healthcare Symposium, chose to honor two medical doctors with its 2014 awards.
The Visionary
Award was granted to James Gordon, MD, the integrative psychiatrist,
founder of the Center for
Mind Body Medicine at Georgetown University and past chair of the White
House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. Gordon has
recently been focusing much of his energy on using mind-body approaches to help
large and small groups in community medicine and public health arenas. He is addressing
the needs of populations in such hotspots of stress and pressure as Bosnia and
the West Bank. In addition, Tieraona
Lowdog, MD, the education director for the fellowship in integrative
medicine at the University of
Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine was granted the 2014 Leadership Award.
Lowdog is a unique integrative MD whose clinical experience includes time as
both a midwife and a massage therapist. The next IHS conference will be
February 19-21, 2015.
 Cambron: new chair for massage foundation
Jerrilyn Cambron, DC, PhD elected president of the Massage Therapy Foundation
The Massage Therapy Foundation (MTF) has
announced that Jerrilyn Cambron, DC, MPH, PhD, LMT was elected to a two-year
term as president of MTF. Cambron is research professor at the
multidisciplinary National University of Health Sciences. Cambron is also a
licensed massage therapist and founder of MassageNet, a practice-based research network
for massage therapists. The associate editor for the Journal of Bodywork and
Movement Therapies also writes a column for Massage and Bodywork and serves
on the Research Working Group
of the Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care.
She succeeds Ruth Werner, PhD.
Comment: Any observer of the roller-coaster activity in the massage field -
with its trade vs. profession identity issues - will know that the Massage
Therapy Foundation has consistently drawn many of the best in the field
onto its board and into its presidency. Cambron is one more in a succession
that goes back to Janet Kahn, PhD, LMT and includes Washington State-based
policy and coverage leader, author Diana Thompson, LMP, as well as Werner.
Expect good things in Cambron's term.
 Katz - herbalist and plantsaver
American Botanical Council and American Herbal Products Association announce
2014 awards
The Anaheim trade show for the natural products industry is always marked
by the herbal medicine and herbal industry awards. Here are those recognized in
2014.
American Botanical Council
-
Gordon
M. Cragg, PhD, received the Norman
R. Farnsworth Excellence in Botanical Research Award for 2013. Dr. Cragg is
a former research director of the US National Cancer Institute (NCI), where he
was involved in the NCI's search for new cancer medicines from plants and other
natural sources.
-
Herbal
Advocate Sara Katz received the American Botanical Council Mark Blumenthal Herbal Community
Builder Award
-
Co-authors,
herbalists, clinicians, and researchers Kerry Bone and Simon Mills receives
ABC's James A. Duke Excellence in Botanical Literature Award
-
Wakunaga
Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd., of Osaka, Japan was given the Varro
E. Tyler Commercial Investment in Phytomedicinal Research Award for its
"rigorous scientific and clinical research of its products, including its
top-selling, clinically researched odorless Aged Garlic Extract."
 Gagnon: honored by his industry
American Herbal
Products Association awards were announced here.
-
Daniel
Gagnon, owner of Herbs, Etc., was awarded the AHPA Herbal Hero Award in
recognition of his outstanding contributions to AHPA committees and
initiatives.
- Dr.
Bronner's Magic Soaps was awarded the AHPA Herbal Industry Leader Award for
taking steps above and beyond normal business practices to advance the herbal
products industry.
- Lyle
Craker, PhD, was awarded the AHPA Herbal Insight Award in recognition of his
efforts to significantly increase and further knowledge and understanding of
botanicals and their uses.
- Six
members of the VIRGO executive team were awarded a special AHPA Visionary Award
for supporting and promoting the industry's responsible growth through
education.
 Hamm: new ACA president
Payment expert Anthony Hamm, DC
elected president of the American Chiropractic Association
In a note to members sub-headed Dr.
Anthony Hamm Brings History of Interprofessional Cooperation
and Payment Policy Expertise, the American Chiropractic Association
announced that Anthony Hamm, DC has been elected to head the organization. Hamm
made history in 2011 as the first chiropractic physician to be elected co-chair
of the American Medical Association's (AMA) Health Care Professionals Advisory
Committee Review Board (HCPAC) which develops recommendations on billing codes.
In assuming his position, Hamm told chiropractic leaders that the profession "possess(es)
the opportunity to shape health care into a conservative-first approach, to
promote health, wellness and preventive strategies and to promote
patient-centered, evidence-informed health care."
Comment: Hamm and the A.C.A. would be served to focus right here on the
note that Hamm struck - promotion of more conservative treatment - especially
amidst the growing plague of opioid overuse.
 Overland: chiropractor of the year
American Chiropractic Association announces 2014 awards -
Harkin, Overland, DeVries, Mayer
-
Chiropractor of the Year Award, was presented to
immediate past-president Keith Overland, DC, for navigating massive changes
within the association, the profession and the nation's health care system.
- Retiring U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
received the Humanitarian of the Year Award recognizing his commitment to
patients' access to the health care provider of their choice.
- Renee M. DeVries, DC, chiropractic dean for
Northwestern Health Sciences University received the Academic of the Year
Award
- John M. Mayer, DC, PhD, Lincoln College Endowed
Chair in Biomechanical & Chiropractic Research, School of Physical Therapy
& Rehabilitation Sciences, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South
Florida (USF) received the George B. McClelland, DC, Researcher of the Year
Award
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