Research Proposal on "Future of Holistic Medicine"

Research Proposal 20 pages (6156 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Future of Holistic Medicine

Holistic medicine is a system of health care which promotes a cooperative relationship among all those involved, leading towards optimal attainment of the physical, mental emotional, social and spiritual aspects of health. It stresses the need to look at the whole person, including analysis of physical, nutritional, environmental, emotional, social, and spiritual lifestyle values. Holistic medicine focuses on education and responsibility for personal efforts to achieve balance and well being (What is Holistic Medicine, n.d.).

Holistic Health is an advance to life. Rather than focusing on illness or specific parts of the body, it focuses on an approach to health that considers the whole person and how he or she interacts with his or her environment. It highlights the connection of mind, body, and spirit. The goal is to achieve maximum well-being with everything functioning at its very best. With Holistic Health people accept responsibility for their own level of well-being, and everyday choices are used to take charge of one's own health (Walter, n.d.).

Each person is considered as a unique individual, rather than an example of a particular disease. Disease is seen to be the result of physical, emotional, spiritual, social and environmental imbalance. Healing is seen as taking place naturally when these aspects of life are brought into proper balance. The function of the practitioner is as guide, mentor and role model. The patient must do the work by changing their lifestyle, beliefs and old habits in order to facilitate healing (Frequently Asked Questions, 2009).

Ancient healing traditions in India and China, stressed living a healthy way of life in harmony with nature. Socrates warned against treating only one part of the body because he that a part can never be well unless the whole is well. Although the term holism was introduced by Jan Christian Smuts in 1926 as a way of viewing living things as entities greater than and different from the sum of their parts, it wasn't until the 1970s that holistic became a common adjective in our modern vocabulary (Walter, n.d.).

Scientific medical advances have created a dramatic shift in the concept of health. Germs have been identified as outside sources that cause disease. Gaining health has become a process of killing microscopic invaders with synthesized drugs. People have come to believe that that they can get away with unhealthy lifestyle choices, and modern medicine will fix them as problems develop. Yet for some conditions medical cures have proven more harmful than the disease. Many chronic conditions do not respond to modern medical treatments. In looking for other options, people are turning to the holistic approach to health and healing. The Holistic Health lifestyle is regaining popularity each year, as the holistic principles offer practical options to meet the growing desire for enjoying a high level of vitality and well-being (Walter, n.d.).

Holistic Health is based on the law of nature that a whole is made up of mutually supporting parts. A person is a whole made up of interdependent parts, which are the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. When one part is not working it impacts all of the other parts of that person. The whole person is constantly interacting with everything in the surrounding environment. When an individual is anxious about something his or her nervousness may result in a physical reaction such as a headache or a stomach ache. When people suppress anger over a long period of time, they often develop a serious illness such as migraine headaches, emphysema, or even arthritis (Walter, n.d.).

The main beliefs of Holistic Health state that health is more than just not being sick. A common way to view wellness is as a continuum along a line. The line represents all possible levels of health. The far left end of the line represents early death. On the far right end of the line is the highest possible level of wellness or maximum well-being. The center of the line represents a lack of disease. This means that all levels of illness are on the left half of the wellness continuum, while the right half shows that even when no illness seems to be present, there is still a lot of room for improvement. Holistic Health is seen as an ongoing process. It requires a personal commitment to be moving toward the right end of the wellness continuum. No matter what a person's current status of health, people can improve their level of well-being. Even when there are temporary setbacks, movement should always be headed toward wellness (Walter, n.d.).

The bulk of illnesses and premature death can be traced back to lifestyle choices. There are many well-known dangers that are connected with drugs, alcohol, nicotine, and unprotected sexual activity. Less familiar is the impact of excesses in things like sugar, caffeine, and negative attitudes. These things combined with deficiencies in exercise, nutritious foods, and self-esteem, these gradually accumulate harmful effects. Over time they diminish the quality of the environment within a human being, and can set the stage for illness to take hold (Walter, n.d.).

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that the key factors that influence an individual's state of health have not changed significantly over the past 20 years. Quality of medical care makes up 10%. Heredity accounts for 18% and environment is 19%. Everyday lifestyle choices make up 53%. The decisions that people make about their life and habits are, therefore, by far the largest factor in determining their state of wellness (Walter, n.d.).

The most obvious choices that people make each day surround what they consume both physically and mentally. The cells in a person's body are constantly being replaced with new ones. New cells are built from what is on hand. A lack of needed building blocks in the body can result in imperfect cells, unable to do what is required to keep that person healthy. On the non-physical level, a person's mental attitude is built from what they see and hear (Walter, n.d.).

While preventing illness is important, the main focus of Holistic Health is on reaching higher levels of wellness. The right half of the wellness continuum focuses on constantly exploring what everyday actions work for a person while discovering what is appropriate to move them toward maximum well-being. People are encouraged by how good it feels to have lots of energy and enthusiasm for life, knowing that what they are doing that day will allow them to continue to feel this great for years to come (Walter, n.d.).

When an illness or chronic condition does present itself, the holistic approach to healing goes beyond just eliminating the surface symptoms. When using holistic medicine, a symptom is considered a sign that something needs attention. The symptom is used as a guide to looking below the surface for the root cause of the problem. Then the real problem that needs attention can be addressed. Holistic Health strives to reach higher levels of wellness while preventing illness. People enjoy the vitality and well-being that results from their positive lifestyle changes, and are motivated to continue this process throughout their lives (Walter, n.d.).

A holistic practitioner:

1. Views the patient as being ultimately responsible for his/her own well-being.

2. Fosters and maintains a partnership with the patient, using therapies which both feel comfortable and are effective.

3. Evaluate and recommend treatment options that address the cause of an illness, along with the symptoms.

The holistic practitioner will choose or recommend from a variety of both conventional and alternative treatments and therapies. The practitioner and the patient often work together to develop an optimal course of treatment for the patient. This partnership is a powerful approach to healing and is the foundation of the holistic philosophy (Frequently Asked Questions, 2009).

Complementary and alternative therapies are those that are not considered mainstream and are not normally offered by conventional medical personnel. These include: nutrition, herbal medicine, spinal manipulation, body work medicine, energy medicine, spiritual attunement, relaxation training and stress management, biofeedback and acupuncture. This list is constantly changing as more research becomes available. As they demonstrate effectiveness and safety, these therapies become part of conventional medicine (Frequently Asked Questions, 2009).

Holistic medicine is primarily well-known by its concept of health. Physicians tend to assume that people who are not sick are by definition healthy. Sickness usually means that the patient is complaining of something, or that the physician has discovered some abnormality through examination or other testing. Even if the patient does have some complaint, if the doctor cannot find something abnormal after extensive testing, the patient is still presumed to be healthy by virtue of the fact that there is no verifiable evidence of abnormality. Health is considered to be merely the absence of illness (Rosch, n.d.).

The holistic definition of health is often seen as health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease. This is a positive definition, and one which… READ MORE

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