A SPIRITUAL RESPONSE TO: Report on the Australasian Integrative Medicine Association conference “Bridging the Gap”.
Not everything is harmonious in the integrative medicine field. After ten years of growth in the evidence base for a wide range of complementary therapies, a protest group is now trying to eliminate the teaching of complementary medicine from universities. That’s why on August 31st – September 2nd, the 18th International Integrative Medicine Conference in Melbourne titled “Bridging the Gap” was held.
In attendance were doctors, specialists, nurses, psychologists, natural therapists, naturopaths, members of peak bodies, and many others seeking to practice an holistic approach to healthcare. In opening the conference, Professor Kerryn Phelps AO, outgoing AIMA President said, “Never before has there been a greater need to bridge the gap between the various disciplines that contribute to the practice of integrative medicine.”
To the AIMA, integrative medicine “reaffirms the importance of the relationship between practitioner and patient, focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches, health care professionals and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing.” Developed and Adopted by The Consortium, May 2004 Edited May 2009 and November 2009. “This includes Mind-Body Interventions such as patient support groups, meditation, prayer, spiritual healing, and therapies that use creative outlets such as art, music, or dance.”
In speaking about a whole-person approach to healthcare practice, a Keynote speaker Dr Robin Youngson, Founder of the world-wide social movement HEARTS in HEALTHCARE, spoke of the need to re-humanize healthcare. He wants to bring back to the healthcare system, kindness, compassion, appreciation, gratitude, mindfulness, caring and the joy of service. Such a compassionate practice has proven effective to patient care and in aiding recovery.
Dr Timothy Sharp, another Keynote speaker, and founder of Australia’s first organization devoted solely to enhancing happiness in individuals, described happiness as thriving, flourishing wellbeing. To him, happiness is a positive emotion, engagement in life, connectedness, having meaning and purpose. He sees the need for positivity as an aid to helping people live happy, healthy lives.
At this conference the notion that drug-based medicine is the only system of treatment to help a patient recover their good health, was considered limiting. Many people, like me, have found that spirituality and good health are connected. Incorporating spirituality into healthcare practices, benefits mind and body and brings positive patient outcomes.
Over lunch I found it encouraging to speak with Dr Sandra Parsons who practices wellness medicine at her Melbourne clinic. She integrates Western medicine with complementary and alternative medicines. She is also interested in utilizing spirituality. Her desire is to bring about the best outcome for each patient.
As a result of that conversation, and my attendance at this conference, I came away reassured that a growing ground-swell of support exists for people like me to employ proven means, such as Christian Science, to help myself and others be healthy and well.
I’m a professional Christian Science Practitioner and Teacher. Through my prayer-based practice, I help people find happiness, health and healing.
It’s pleasing to find out that the conference was attended by some doctors and others in the medical field who are using an holistic approach to health-care for their patients. Recognition of the vital relationship between practitioner and patient is so crucial to the success of genuine healthcare. I endorse the concept of a healthcare system in which qualities such as appreciation, consideration, gratitude, happiness and thoughtfulness are given high priority. An open, compassionate approach to treatment, taking into account the mental state of the patient, is essential in achieving “optimal health and healing”. Prayer and spiritual healing are very important components of such an approach. Spirituality definitely enhances the mind-body connection, promotes healing outcomes, and helps bring about complete recovery.
Thank you Dee Jay for your insightful comment. I found it was good to be amongst caring thinkers at the conference who were exploring ways to better help their patients recovery. I liked what you said, that “Spirituality definitely enhances the mind-body connection, promotes healing outcomes, and helps bring about complete recovery.” Sounds like you are speaking from experience. Do come again and leave another comment.
Much appreciation Beverly, for your contribution to this conversation, and for alerting readers to the need to defend our individual right to obtain the best health care available. With so many people seeking healing in the world, and millions being given prognoses of incurability by the medical profession, it would seem questionable for universities to consider excluding all other therapeutic methods from health studies. Medical treatment for numerous diseases is clearly a long way from achieving consistent and universal results. The documentation of “Mind Body Interventions” and healing achieved purely through spiritual prayer is mounting, and indicates a wider conversation about the nature of health and regeneration is needed. Universities, being designed to preserve and cultivate open-minded research, should encourage and support any system which has achieved sustained and substantive success in healthcare. This agrees with the scientific method which measures success by actual results (or is “informed by evidence” as the AIMA suggests) rather than theoretical hypotheses. It was heartening to hear of the variety of health care professionals who attended the conference and are working to maintain and expand our right to choose what is best in such a fundamental area of our lives.
Thank you Abigail for your thoughtful comment. I look forward to the day when spirituality will be more widely embraced by health practitioners, and leading, as you say, to “our right to choose what is best in such a fundamental area of our lives.” Do visit again… and even submit a blog.