The birth of a New Dawn

The birth of a new dawn signifying the reality and arrival of a new chapter in the infrastructure of medical science is no more clearly displayed than in the assembling of complementary therapies in integrated healthcare. A leaflet is available describing the Friends of the Foundation for Integrated Medicine, a registered charity with the Prince of Wales as its president. The Foundation’s objectives are for a choice of a fully-integrated healthcare system. The development and delivery needs to be safe, effective and efficient to patients and their families, through encouraging greater collaboration between all healthcare practitioners and high-quality research.

Complementary medicine is increasingly popular. More than five million people consulted a complementary practitioner last year; there are nearly 50,000 in the U.K.waterfall

The Department of Health was one of four organisations which collaborated in the production of the Complementary Medicine information pack for Local Health Groups. This pack gives information on individual therapies: acupuncture, aromatherapy, chiropractic, homeopathy, hypnotherapy, and osteopathy. Other therapies described are the Alexander Technique, cranial-sacral therapy, healing, herbal medicine, massage, nutrition, and reflexology.

The first all-Wales conference on Integrated Health Care was held in the College of Medicine, Cardiff, in October 2000. The conference included a workshop in research methodology and an outline protocol for research development led by Dr. Adrian White, Research Fellow in Complementary Medicine at Exeter University, to support evaluation and development.

Another conference in the same month, organised by the British Library and the Foundation for Integrated Medicine, offered delegates a unique opportunity to learn about the range of information sources available, from evidence-based research to consumer views. Quality issues and possible biases were also discussed.

Written by Faith Challinor-Wheatley FICHT MFHT HPAI SHA

She has experience working with the Mental Health Volunteering Project.

Faith can be contacted on TEL: 01792 290458

Published in the Iechyd Da Good Health Winter 2000. S CVS.

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