Holistic medicine practitioners believe that mental, physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing are interlinked; by identifying the source of symptoms for each patient, holistic doctors develop treatment plans designed to promote wellness and avoid disease.
These treatment modalities could include diet counseling, herbal remedies, meditation, acupuncture and massage therapy. Ask your practitioner what their qualifications are and for how long they have been practicing.
Patient-Centered Care
Patient-centric care is essential to providing effective healthcare. This approach takes into account physical, emotional and spiritual needs of patients as they strive towards long-term goals of improved wellness. Furthermore, this model emphasizes their participation in healthcare decision making ensuring they are involved with their own treatment plans and that medical teams listen attentively to any issues raised.
One way of providing patient-centric care is ensuring all members of a patient’s healthcare team understand his or her history and goals, which allows healthcare providers to be more empathetic while offering support in the most efficient ways. Respectful treatment also extends to their cultural or spiritual identities – something which can make an enormous difference for patient experience.
Holistic doctors specialize in holistic practices like acupuncture, aromatherapy, herbal medicine, massage therapy and diet counseling as alternative medicine approaches. In conjunction with this holistic care they may also utilize traditional medical approaches like diagnostic tests and medications – providing their patients with tailored care that ensures the highest possible level of wellbeing.
Holistic doctors also prioritize meeting patients’ emotional needs and often offer various emotional support services. Understanding that patients can often feel anxious or fearful during their healthcare journey, they work to reassure them and actively involve family and friends as part of the care plan.
As part of their patient-centric care strategies, other strategies include encouraging shared decision-making, tailored care plans and clear communications between patients and their loved ones. Fostering these environments can give patients more power over their own healthcare and increase outcomes – studies have demonstrated this effect as people who participate more fully in decision making processes tend to follow treatment plans more willingly and can feel supported by loved ones during this process. Being actively engaged can also boost adherence rates, with people more involved tending to have higher compliance with treatment regimens.
Personalized Care
People sometimes mistake “holistic healthcare” for being synonymous with non-medical practitioners who lack accreditation and knowledge of Western medicine, when in reality many holistic health practitioners are licensed doctors trained at medical school who offer chiropractic, acupuncture and Chinese herbal therapies as part of an integrative approach that covers acute as well as chronic illnesses.
Chiropractic manipulation of joints to relieve pain and increase range of motion; while acupuncture involves inserting needles at specific points on the skin to restore energy balance. Holistic healthcare offers patients tools for taking an active part in their own wellbeing such as diet changes, stress reduction techniques, and learning more about personal triggers that cause illness.
Holistic treatment is a rapidly increasing trend worldwide, both within the US and internationally. According to the current Occupational Outlook Handbook, alternative health professionals such as massage therapists who can alleviate physical and emotional strain as well as nutritionists providing advice about healthy eating are predicted to experience above average growth rates in coming years.
Penn Personalized Care is another example of holistic healthcare delivery, offering members concierge-style primary care to address both routine and complex medical concerns. This unique model creates strong patient-physician relationships while meeting age group specific requirements by offering access to physicians with specialist knowledge of each age group’s particular requirements.
For optimal holistic healthcare outcomes, selecting a holistic healthcare practitioner that you feel at ease discussing sensitive or personal matters with is of utmost importance. You can research potential practitioners by consulting recommendations from friends and family or searching certified organizations such as the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians or National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine certification lists; additionally conducting a background check can give additional assurances of safety with whom you’re dealing.
Although traditional group health insurance does not always provide enough coverage for holistic healthcare treatments, there are cost-effective methods of compensating employees. Organizations of any size can provide employees with tax-free wellness benefits in the form of health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), healthcare flexible spending accounts (FSAs), or healthcare savings accounts (HSAs).
A Relationship Based on Trust
Holistic doctors take time to create relationships with their patients and help them meet their health goals. They offer patients access to various therapeutic options – diet and exercise recommendations, herbal medications, massage therapy treatments, as well as mind-body treatments – all tailored towards individual patients’ specific needs.
At its core, holistic healthcare should be seen as a partnership between patient and doctor, creating an opportunity for people to feel empowered about their health and take greater control of their own wellbeing. Practitioners that specialize in holistic healthcare are able to offer clients more tailored treatments aimed at both body and spirit wellness.
Holistic practices embrace the belief that there are six dimensions of wellness: physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual and environmental. When one aspect of wellbeing becomes out of balance, its effects may ripple throughout. A holistic medical practitioner works closely with their patient to ascertain which of these aspects contribute to overall health issues and develop an action plan to restore equilibrium.
Holistic practitioners provide more than just treatment methods; they also educate their patients on how to effectively manage their own health and wellbeing in between visits. This may involve providing nutritional and lifestyle guidance and learning how to recognize and respond to stress and anxiety.
Holistic healthcare practitioners such as acupuncturists, nutritionists and wellness coaches are licensed doctors who can provide assistance for the individual patient’s individual health needs. Their approach usually starts by reviewing an individual’s medical history and conducting an overall wellness assessment before suggesting an approach that integrates traditional medical treatments with holistic healing practices that can enhance quality of life for the client.
Contrary to modern Western medicine, which relies heavily on pharmaceuticals to treat symptoms and conditions, holistic healthcare providers use natural therapies which may have more of an impactful positive outcome for patient health – including acupuncture, acupressure, herbal remedies and homeopathy.
Therapeutic Relationships
Holistic medical practitioners offer more tailored care by getting to know their patients individually and understanding their individual needs, creating strong therapeutic relationships between themselves and their patients.
Holistic practitioners tend to offer more therapies than regular doctors, such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, massage therapy, nutritional counseling and mind-body therapies. These methods may be used as complementary remedies for chronic diseases and other ailments.
This approach can be particularly effective when combined with more traditional treatment methods. For instance, those struggling with depression might benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), while people experiencing back pain might find relief through yoga or meditation.
Holistic practitioners not only offer various treatments, but can also teach patients more about their own health and wellness practices – in particular how to manage stress levels or other emotional factors which might be contributing to physical ailments.
Most of us know that eating right and exercising regularly are good for our wellbeing, yet sometimes these recommendations can be hard to implement. A holistic doctor can assist in setting realistic wellness goals, then helping patients reach them successfully.
Holistic practitioners can also help their patients form healthy relationships with others, which is one way of decreasing the risk of anxiety and other mental health conditions derived from negative social interactions. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, jobs focused on helping patients improve their social relationships are anticipated to experience above-average job growth rates from 2033 onwards.
