Integrative and holistic medicine/nursing

Integrative Health and Medicine has emerged in the United States of America as a specialty for physicians and nurses. 

Our current biomedical model excels when a person needs acute care, technology and drugs. However, it has less to offer for a patient or provider when dealing with prevention or chronic disease. Integrative Health and Medicine embraces the wisdom of all global healing traditions and focuses on health creation, not just the treatment of disease. The person is seen as a holistic, multicultural being -- embracing body, mind and spirit.   Integrative Health and Medicine is personalized, predictive and proactive about a person’s lifestyle. Treatment plans are as unique as the individual and focus on nutrition, nutraceuticals, mind-body therapies, sleep and fitness in addition to the patient’s biomedical management. The patient receives safe individualized care when these evidence-based practices are provided, recommended and followed through by a licensed health care provider.  This is a new model that is changing the current medical model to be more healing and focus on health creation. As a result, the patient is more pro-active in their own care and the provider is more satisfied in their scope of practice (www.aihm.org).

There are an estimated 20 million nurses and midwives currently working across the world. Integrative and Holistic Nursing is knowing, doing and being. It is combined science, art and spiritual practice. Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) was a true visionary in many areas of global health, especially caring, healing and advocacy.

Integrative Health and Medicine philosophy and practices are aligned with the United Nations 17 SDG’s or Sustainable Development Goals, transforming the health of our world by 2030. All of these goals are directly or indirectly related to health outcomes, especially # 3, which is Good Health and Well-Being, ensuring healthy lives for all.