I was delighted to attend an event over the summer organised by the College of Medicine and Integrated Health, all about the importance of integrative medicine – something I feel strongly about.
You may now be wondering what actually is integrative medicine? It’s a healthcare model that uses a combination of evidence-based therapies and lifestyle approaches to treat a person; looking at your physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing. Put another way, it’s the idea of personalised care within our health system; not fitting the person’s needs into the care that’s available but organising care around the individual. Combining both the conventional and the complementary.
But is it going to help you?
Well the answer is, almost certainly.
We all know that the Covid pandemic and the years since have highlighted many issues, some were positive realisations while others were alarming, but whatever your experience of the pandemic it encouraged an emphasis on our health, the healthcare that was available and what we could be doing to help ourselves as individuals and as communities.
We are still seeing the Covid effect, especially with the enormous pressures being placed upon conventional medicine. Chronic disease is increasing; life expectancy has plateaued and overprescription of drugs and antibiotic resistance is an ever-increasing problem; the NHS is struggling. Now is the time we should look at how we look after ourselves. Self-care isn’t just a buzz word, it’s a social, economic and personal necessity. And it’s empowering too.
Conventional medicine is essential; it’s vital, there is no argument about that. But the chasm between conventional medicine and what was once deemed ‘alternative’ is decreasing. It is complementary rather than alternative; integrative. Conventional and complementary go hand in hand and that’s beginning to be seen within society and within medical care. It’s evident with social prescribing, complementary therapies being seen in oncology centres, in increasing numbers of doctor’s surgeries and hospitals.
Let’s also not forget that up to 70% of illnesses are stress-related so anything that helps us to take a healthier approach to managing our stress levels can only be a good thing.
The Integrated Medicine Alliance now comes under the College of Medicine and was set up in 2019 to “encourage and optimise the use of complementary therapies alongside conventional healthcare for the benefit of all.” (Read more about this here). I don’t offer an alternative approach, I believe in an integrative one; providing appropriate treatments, walking alongside you, supporting, signposting, listening and working with you as a whole person and not as a set of isolated health issues. It’s always complementary to any other care you are receiving. Complementary medicine needs to be appropriate, safe and evidence-based. That is what we are working towards. You can learn more about just a few of the current evidence-based research here.
We should not forget that many important discoveries in medicine were once deemed alternative and treated with scepticism and yet look at how far we’ve come.
No one medical approach, therapy or therapist is right for everyone and it can take time to work out the most effective and achievable approach for you. Crossing the divide and reaching a place of integrative care could just be the place to start.
