Integrative medicine is often seen in our culture as being for the wealthy, involving expensive supplements and treatments that low-income patients cannot afford.
Yet many integrative treatments are not only more effective, but also more cost-effective.
In fact, many community clinics and other practices are already successfully using these strategies with underserved populations.
There are many different definitions of integrative medicine, but for many people, integrative healthcare is primarily holistic.
Holistic means addressing all different aspects of health, including nutrition, physical activity, spirituality, resilience, environment, relationships and sleep.
It also means building a partnership with patients, so that improving health is a collaborative process that empowers and meets the needs of the individual.
The focus is on wellness, disease prevention, and developing the body’s ability to heal itself as much as possible using a wide variety of modalities.
It is important that underserved people have access to integrated health care.
I would say that it’s even more it is essential that the poor and marginalized have access to integrated health care than those with more resources and privilege.
We must serve the underserved
The poor struggle to meet their basic needs: access to healthy and affordable food, a safe place to live, work opportunities and an environment free of pollutants.
Underserved people are primarily people of color and others who experience oppression because of their sexual identity, religion, gender, or other reasons. We know that living with oppression leads to more stress and poorer health outcomes, including chronic health problems.
An integrative approach to health care can help reduce these health disparities. Let’s face it; This is where conventional medicine could use some help! Integrative health care improves resilience and employs modalities, such as massage, that lead to better overall health and reduced stress.
For chronic diseases, like diabetes, an integrative approach has a broader impact on overall health.
For example, we approach nutrition not only from the perspective of reducing blood sugar, but also reducing inflammation and increasing the intake of healthy nutrients to prevent other diseases associated with diabetes, such as cardiovascular disease.
A current topic of discussion in conventional healthcare is the opioid epidemic and chronic pain management.
This is an area where an integrative approach can have a huge impact. We have a range of modalities such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, nutrition and manual medicine, including massage therapy, which have been shown in research to reduce chronic pain.
Additionally, we know that a holistic approach including mind-body modalities such as mindfulness and imagery can improve quality of life. We have much more than pharmaceutical products to offer our patients, which can have a significant impact on chronic illness and suffering.
Towards an integrative approach
I am Chairman of the Board of Directors of an organization that works to make integrative health care accessible to all Americans.
Integrative Medicine for the Underserved (IM4US) is a nonprofit organization founded by a small group of highly committed family physicians providing primary care to underserved individuals.
They strongly believed that integrative health care should be accessible to their patients as well as the wealthy.
In 2009, this group of doctors was attending a meeting at the Society of Professors of Family Medicine conference when they discovered they all had a common interest: providing integrative medicine to the underserved. Subsequently, they created a special interest group within the Society of Professors of Family Medicine.
The group invited others and began meeting by phone to support each other and share how they were providing integrative medicine to the patients they saw in their community clinics.
After initially meeting through monthly conference calls, their first conference was in Santa Rosa, California, in 2011. They thought they would be lucky to have 50 people in attendance, but were pleasantly surprised to find it was standing room only. The room was filled with a number of healthcare providers, including massage therapists, all interested in providing care to the underserved.
A movement was born. This success eventually led to the creation of a non-profit organization called IM4US with the following mission statement:
“Integrative Medicine for the Underserved is a collaborative, multidisciplinary group of individuals committed to affordable and accessible integrative health care for all. Through awareness, education, research and advocacy, we support those dedicated to promoting health among underserved populations. Together we are working to shift the current paradigm towards wellness, prevention, patient empowerment and self-care.
We believe:
- Health care is a right.
- Optimal health care focuses as much on well-being as it does on treating disease.
- Optimal health care addresses the mind, body and spirit.
- We must address the social determinants of health.
- Powered to integrate diverse health care modalities and disciplines.
- Underserved patients and those who provide their care need unique support.
- Collaboration and sharing improves patient outcomes and incentivizes providers to remain fully engaged in this work.
Justice and equity
In this political climate, access to affordable health care is a controversial topic. New changes to the Affordable Care Act could leave even more Americans without health care.
It is our duty as an organization to not only advocate for affordable health care for all, but also to advocate for access to all integrative health care providers, including massage therapists, acupuncturists, naturopaths, herbalists and many others.
We collaborated with the Integrative Health Policy Consortium advocate for policy changes that support an integrative interdisciplinary approach. Our organization provides expertise and a voice to underserved people in this partnership.
In fact, our next conference will be focused on politics. It will take place at George Washington University in Washington DC from June 21-24, 2018 and is tentatively titled “Justice and Equity in Policy and Practice.”
While we are in Washington DC, we will interact, learn, educate, and connect with organizations, policymakers, and legislators working to achieve health equity.
We hope that those who attend the conference will have the opportunity to gain the tools they need to take action either nationally or in their own communities and organizations.
Join us
The annual IM4US Conference is a unique educational experience for all healing professionals to learn about affordable integrative approaches to common health problems, share evidence-based integrative best practices, and be part of a like-minded community for activism around integrative health for the underserved.
Most training opportunities that currently exist on integrative health are aimed at physicians in private practice and focus less on an interdisciplinary health care team and care of the underserved.
We offer discounted rates to make participation affordable for all professions, and we have some financial aid opportunities. We encourage massage therapists to participate in our conference by attending or presenting.
Additionally, we invite you to join our organization. Benefits include educational opportunities, membership in a supportive, like-minded interdisciplinary community, and the opportunity to advocate for integrative health care for the underserved.
Editor’s note: MASSAGE Magazine welcomes guest editorials on topics of interest to massage therapists, including counterpoints to published editorials. Email edit@massagemag.com to request more information if you would like to contribute a guest editorial.
About the Author
Priscilla Abercrombie, PhD, RN, NP, AHN-BC, NBC-HCW, is chair of the board of directors of Integrative Medicine for the Underserved, a national organization committed to affordable and accessible integrative health care for all. She holds a doctorate in nursing and is a women’s health nurse practitioner. She has been providing care to disadvantaged people for over 30 years. In her integrative practice, Women’s Health & Healing, in San Anselmo, California, she offers women’s health consultations, coaching, and integrative imagery.
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